Make This Count
by bold as love57
Summary: The odds seperate these two best friends, moving them to opposite coasts. A few promises and a memory box later, Bella is on the east coast in NY while Edward is staying in Forks. What happens when Renee sends Bella back to Forks in a hurry 9 years later?
1. Because Forever Isn't Always Forever

**hello again lovely readers. this is my new project and its nothing like Signature of the Divine. I am still writing the epilogue for that so please be patient. As for now, enjoy this lovely story. I'm actually really excited for this one soooo review away. love n**

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**Chapter 1- Because Forever Isn't Always Forever**

Bella POV

"Eddie pass it here!" I shouted, skating as hard as I could towards the goal. Edward Cullen, my best friend, sent me a pass and I shot the puck into the goal. I skated over to him and he gave me a hug.

"That's why you're my bestest friend, Bella." He said. We were giggling now and skating over to where the coach was standing with his whistle.

"Good practice today, mites. (AN- youngest league of hockey available) I'll see you guys next week." He said before we all skated over to the door.

"There's my girl!" I heard my daddy before I actually saw him.

"Daddy!" I called. I loved when he came to my practices, I really loved my daddy. He picked me up and placed me down on the bench, helping me take off my pads and skates. "Daddy, can Eddie sleep over?" I asked looking at my dad with my big brown eyes I knew he couldn't say no to.

"Sure, sure. You have to ask Carlisle though. I've got to go to work but mommy will be home." Dad said. I grinned from ear to ear and looked over at Edward who was waiting for my answer. I gave him the thumbs up and watched as he smiled too.

Edward's smile was funny. My mom said it was crooked and cute, I don't know about cute but it sure was crooked. I always make fun of him for it, that and his smile is too big for his face. He's a funny looking kid. I walked over to his dad and tugged on his pant leg.

"Carlisle? Can Edward sleep over my house tonight?" I asked, giving him the same eyes I gave Daddy.

"Sure, Bella. You're quite the hockey player, I see." Carlisle said. I was blushing. That was the thing about me, I may be nine but I know how to blush like a teenager. Every time someone compliments me or says something funny my cheeks turn bright pink. Edward makes fun of me for it, but I really think he's just getting back at me for making fun of his smile.

"Eddie! You're staying with me tonight!" I called, running towards him.

"I know! Lets try to stay up all night. We were so close last time." Edward said, tugging my arm towards the door.

"Girls can't play hockey. Hockey's for boys only, no girls allowed." This kid name Kevin called after me. I was about to turn around and say something when Edward beat me to it.

"Bella's better than you will ever be. If I hear you talking about her again you're gonna be begging Bella to save you." Edward said. I turned and laughed at him, he was so bad with threats.

"Let's go, Eddie." I said, pulling him harder towards Daddy's car. We laughed the entire way home. Edward was always defending me like that. Daddy just shook his head when we complained about Kevin being mean, he said it was something I'd have to learn to deal with in life, whatever that meant.

When we got home Mom was sitting at the computer desk looking at houses. She didn't notice us come in, because she didn't turn around.

"Whatcha doing, Mom?" I asked her, moving so I could see what she was looking at on the computer.

"Just some houses." She said softly.

"Why? I like this one. It's near Edward."

"I know, Bella. But there's something I need to talk to you about. I know you don't understand everything right now, but Daddy and I don't love each other anymore. We still love you though, which is why we want what's best for you and your brother." Mom said. I turned to look at Daddy who was telling Edward to go wait for me upstairs. Emmett, my brother was no where to be seen.

"I know this is hard, but Daddy and I won't be living together anymore. I'm going to go to New York with my job and Daddy's going to stay here with Emmett so he can stay in school. You have to come with me, Bell, in New York. You can come and visit Daddy but you have to come with me." I could feel the tears in my eyes as she said that. I wasn't leaving,

"I won't go! You can't make me! I'll live with Edward! I bet Carlisle wouldn't make me go to stupid New York!" The tears escaped down my cheek now. Mom went to go and wipe them away but I backed out of her reach.

"This isn't up for discussion, Bella. You're going to New York, no questions." My mom was now actually yelling at me. This made no sense to me, Emmett was only a year older than me, why did he get to stay here? I didn't even care at the time, I was too mad.

"I HATE YOU!" I screamed as I ran up the stairs to meet Edward who was waiting for me.

"I hate her. I hater her. I hate her." I said, falling backwards onto my bed.

"What's wrong Bells?" Edward asked, almost whispering.

"She's making me move to New York! I hate her! I don't want to go! I won't go!" I said, still screaming. I looked up at my best friend who had tears in his eyes.

I had never seen Edward actually cry and needless to say it was pretty sad. He was always this macho little kid and now he was crying. I felt my own tears prick at my eyes and finally roll down my cheeks.

"I don't want you to go, Bells. The worlds an awfully lonely place to not have a best friend in." Edward said, flopping down next to me on the bed. He grabbed my hand and we just laid there for a while.

"I don't want to leave you." I said softly, not even sure if he could hear me.

"I don't want you to go either, Bells." Edward whispered. "I want you to stay here forever with me."

That was the last thing I hard that night, I let the darkness consume me. I found comfort in my dreams, a place where the horrors of New York couldn't find me. Where I could be happy, where I could be with Edward.

"Bells, time to get up! We're going to spend the whole day together!" I heard a familiar voice call through my dreams. I groggily opened my eyes to find Edward's green eyes right above me.

"Eddie, it's too early to be up." I said, pulling covers over my head and rolling back over.

"Nope! Get up! We're gonna go do something fun at my house!" And with he forcefully removed me from the bed. A pair of shorts and a sweatshirt were thrown at me and I recognized the sweatshirt as Emmett's old hockey sweatshirt I loved.

We made it downstairs and were about to go out the back door when Emmett came out of the kitchen in boxers.

"Where ya going, Bella? Running away?" Emmett teased, leaning again the doorframe.

"Shut up Emmett! I hate you! You get to stay and I have to leave! It's not fair!" I said, letting the tears fall down again. I didn't want to leave my older brother, he was my rock. I loved him.

"I don't want you to go either Bellbo, but dad told me I'm staying here while you go to New York. They said it was for the best." Emmett said coming over to engulf me in a big bear hug. When he finally put me back on the ground he asked again where I was going.

"We're going over to Edward's house." I said. Emmett nodded and walked back into the kitchen. Edward and I had mapped out a plan through the back woods so we could easily get to each others houses. We spray painted the trees along the trail so we wouldn't get lost.

"Go in the garage and grab our street hockey stuff, Bells." Edward told me when we got to his house. He ran off to the shed behind their pool to grab something. I did as I was told and came back with two pairs of rollerblades and two beaten up hockey sticks.

"Okay, here. Help me dig a really big hole next to that tree." Edward said, handing me a shovel.

"Why?" I asked, looking at him like he was crazy.

"You'll see."  
So we started digging. We must have been digging for an hour before the whole was suitable to Edward's liking.

"Hand me that stuff." Edward called up to me from inside the hole. I grabbed the stuff and lowered it down to him.

"This is crazy, Eddie." I said after lowering the last stick down. Once everything was in the hole, Edward jumped out.

"Now a part of you and me will always be here, under this big tree. It'll be our tree." Edward said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. Esme came out with the camera at that point.

"Let me get a picture of you two!" She cooed, snapping about 1000 pictures.

"Oh Bella, life isn't going to be the same without you, dear." Esme said, now hugging me tightly.

"I'm gonna miss you, Esme." I said, trying to choke back a few of my tears. Once Esme went back inside it was just me and Edward in the yard again.

"Promise you won't get a new best friend." I said, leaning so my head rested on Edward's shoulder.

"Promise to come home soon." Edward replied.

"I promise." I whispered, hiding my face in his shoulder, trying to hide my tears.

"Me too, Bells. I don't want anybody else but you."

I don't know how long we sat under our tree, or how long I had left with Edward. All I knew was that I left tomorrow on a flight to New York. Mom had left today and was trusting me to fly by myself to meet her. She even bought me a new ipod, trying to sucker me into liking New York. I told her that was never going to happen, she told me to give it a try.

I opened my eyes and looked at Edward. His eyes were closed and he was resting his head on mine. Suddenly I heard the screen door open and I knew what was coming.

"Bella, honey, your dad just called, he says its time to go home to say goodbye." Carlisle called from the door. Edward's eyes flew open and he grabbed my hand.

"Don't go, Bells." He whispered, the tears already brimming his eyes.

"I wish I could stay here with you." I said, looking up into his green eyes with tears filling mine as well. I let the tears fall, knowing I couldn't hold them back.

"I love you, Bella." He said, letting his head hang down to meet my shoulder.

"I love you too, Eddie." I said, sobbing now.

"Best friends, forever." Edward said, slipping something hard into my hand. I pulled my hand away and looked down. There was a silver bracelet in my hand, with a few charms on it. There was a B, an E, and a few other things. "It was Esme's idea, but I helped pick it out."

"Thanks Eddie! Can you help me put it on?" I asked holding out my wrist. He took my wrist in his shaking hands and clasped the cold, hard metal to my body.

"Best friends, forever." I repeated, hugging him again. I said my quick goodbye to Carlisle, promising to come back and visit soon before I took off running.

I made it back to my house before I had a chance to realize that was the last time I would see Eddie for a while. I got inside and slammed the door, still crying. I ran over to Emmett and wrapped myself in his arms.

"Bellbo, don't cry. It's gonna be okay. I head New York is pretty in the winter. Don't cry baby sis, you'll be back soon enough to visit. And I'll come see you all the time. It's not gonna be the same without you." He said, stroking my hair.

"I'm gonna miss you, Emmy." I said, pressing my cheek against his chest. Even with our year age difference he was still much bigger than I was.

I cried myself to sleep that night, watching as Emmett and daddy carried all my stuff outside to the spare Jeep we kept in the back. I woken up early the next morning by Daddy.

"Bella, it's time to go to the airport, sweetie." Daddy said, gently. I saw Emmett holding something behind Daddy.

"Bellbo, I want you to have this. Bring a piece of me to New York with you." Emmett said, handing me his hockey sweatshirt I wore all the time. The tears came back to my eyes, this time just brimming them, not actually falling.

"Thanks Emmy." I said jumping out of bed to hug him. I pulled on a pair of shorts and the sweatshirt and made sure my new bracelet was still around my wrist.

I said my tearful goodbyes to every part of the old house, then said goodbye to Emmett, who wasn't coming with us to the airport. It was really hard to say goodbye to him, but he promised to come and visit as soon as he could. He told me he'd watch out for Edward and that if anyone gave me a hard time in New York to call him.

Daddy and I drove to the airport in silence. I was still angry with him and mom. When we got to the airport he looked over at me and I noticed he was crying.

"Don't cry, Daddy." I said softly, trying to convince myself not to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I never meant for this to happen. I wish you and mom could stay here in Forks. I don't want to say goodbye to my girl yet." He said, pulling me into a hug. I hugged him for a long time, not wanting to let go.

Finally a pretty lady came over and told me that she would hang out with me until the flight got here, then she would be our flight attendant and make sure I found mommy on the other side.

"Bye Daddy." I said, letting a few tears fall.

"Bye Bella. Come and visit okay?" He said, hugging me one last time.

"I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie."

I pulled away from my daddy and held the hand of the nice lady. Her name was Emma. She said it was her job to make sure that kids like me made it to our destination safely. She bought me a McFlurry and read a book while I listened to my ipod at the gate.

_Good night my angel time to close your eyes_

_And save these questions for another day_

_I think I know what you've been asking me_

_I think you know what I've been trying to say_

This used to be one of my favorite songs. Lullaby by Billy Joel; I knew every word to this song. Now it seemed too sad.

_I promised I would never leave you _

_And you should always know_

_Where ever you may go_

_No matter where you are_

_I never will be far away_

I loved this song specifically because Edward used to play it for me on the piano. He just started to play the piano but he spent hours trying to perfect this song for me.

_Good night my angel now its time to sleep_

_And still so many things I want to say_

_Remember all the songs you sang for me_

_When we went sailing on an emerald bay_

_And like a boat out on the ocean_

_I'm rocking you to sleep_

_The waters dark and deep_

_Inside this ancient heart_

_Youll always be a part of me_

I got teary eyed at that part, remembering the look on Edwards face when he used to play it. I wished I could be listening to him play it now.

_Goodnight my angel now its time to dream_

_And dream how wonderful your life will be_

_Someday your child will cry and if you sing this lullaby_

_Then in your heart there will always be a part of me_

_Someday we'll all be gone_

_But lullabies go on and on_

_They never die, that's how you and I will be_

I wiped away a stray tear, trying to hide it from Emma. But of course she saw me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"Flights here, hunny. It's gonna be okay." She said kindly. She stood up holding out her hand for me, which I grabbed and stood as well. I walked down the terminal, saying goodbye to Forks in my head.

My flight was long, I was sitting next to this teenage boy named, Tommy. Tommy lived in New York and was visiting his girlfriend in Seattle before this.

"Do you know where you're going to be going to live, Bella?" Tommy asked me.

"I think my mom said something about the upper east side." I said, Tommy's jaw dropped.

"That's insane, I live there. I wonder if you're going to Marymount Academy. It's right across from central park. Anyways I'm sure you'll love New York." He said, ruffling my hair. He reminded me a lot of Emmett with his amount of enthusiasm.

"I don't know, I don't have a best friend anymore. Edward's staying in Forks. I don't want to go to New York." I said, sighing heavily.

"Everything's going to be just fine, Bella. Here if you need anything while there, give me a call okay?" He said, writing his number down on a napkin and handing it to me. I didn't even realize that the plan was landing just then.

"See ya round, Bella Swan." Tommy said before leaving.

"See ya, Tommy." I said. Emma came back over to get me.

"Ready to go to your new home, hun?" She said grabbing my hand.

"This place will never be my home."

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**okay so the deal with this story is gonna be Bella moves away as obviously just found out and in 9 years she'll move back to Forks because of something terrible that happened in NYC. Next chapter she's going to be in NYC and you're going to see a clip of her new life but then she'll find out shes moving back with Charlie. Whats gonna happen when her and Edward see each other again? Or whats gonna happen when the past comes back to get Bella? Lots of twist and turns with this one. so hold on, buckle up and get ready for one hell of a ride. reviews are lovely. im thinking like 15 at least for this chapter? **


	2. Because Drinking is Better Than Crying

**Hello Lovely Readers. Just to clear up a few things – Bella and Edward were nine there. And You'll see how Tommy comes back into the story. Its not going to be him directly but someone related to him hint. This chapter is going to be nine years into the future so now Bella's 17 going on 18. So is big E but he's not in this chapter, sadly enough. He'll be back next chapter though! So continue on. Review with any questions, comments or advice you have for me**

**Disclaimer- This is the disclaimer for the whole story. I don't own anything. end of story**

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Bella POV

My alarm clock blared from across the room. _Friday_, I thought to myself. I stumbled out of bed and hit the top of it. I turned my lights on looking around my room in the penthouse apartment I had been living in for nine years. My walls were stark white, and my bedding was gold. I had hardwood floors and floor length windows. It would have been any girls dream come true with my perfect view of Central Park and all the boys playing lacrosse in the spring. But to me, it was just New York.

I pulled on my uniform skirt as I had for 9 years now. Over that I threw my maroon sweater and pulled my collar up and over the sweater. I grabbed my brown suede bootie heels before reaching for my keys and running out the door. I was always about 10 minutes late for homeroom. While waiting for the elevator, I pulled my long, brown hair into a messy bun.

_I love it how she drinks booze in the morning_

_Man its so sexy how she cant remember last night_

_I made the fatal mistake of telling her not to drink again_

_But who am I to tell her how to live her life_

I heard my Iphone shout the lyrics to The Queen and I by Gym Class Heroes and reached into my oversized purse to find it. _Holly _flashed across the screen of my Iphone.

"Hey Hol. I'm on my way out the door now." I said, leaving the elevator and walking towards my car. I picked up my best friend, Holly Hutin every morning.

"Sounds good, Bella. I'll see you soon." She said, hanging up. I climbed into my car and started it. I was driving my mom's new husband, Phil's car now. It was a black pick up truck, perfect for a girl like me from the woods.

When I finally got to Holly's house I laid on my horn until she came outside. People from the lower levels of her building were screaming at from their windows as they do every morning but I never paid attention to them.

"Hey girl." I said.

"Hey. Is Danny's party still on for tonight?" She asked. She asked me because I'm dating Danny. I have been for a little over five months. I wouldn't say I was in love with him, but he meant a lot to me.

"Fuck yeah it is. We're going right?" I replied.

"Uhm hell yea. We had to miss the last party because of Renee's stupid work event. We're so going to this one." Holly said, excitedly. She was right. Last time there was a major party we missed it because Renee was having some executive party and forced me to go. So in return I forced Holly to go.

"I can't wait to get rocked tonight." I told her. Danny's parties always had a reputation for loud music, exclusive guest lists and more booze than you knew what to do with.

"Fuck yeah!" Holly responded, turning up my stereo so now we were blasting, Let it Rock. We pulled up to Marymount Academy as promised, 10 minutes late to homeroom. I switched my flip flops to my boots as we climbed the stairs trying to make it to homeroom. We realized homeroom was over and had to sneak into our first period class.

"You're late girls." Mr. Thorton said from behind his paper as we tried to sneak into the back of the class. Luckily Holly was wearing a low cut polo under her sweater, letting a large amount of cleavage hang out over her maroon sweater. I motioned to her boobs before he lowered the paper and she leaned forwards a little.

"Sorry, Mr. Thorton. We tried to be on time today. I swear." Holly said, giving him her classic puppy dog face. She was one of the few people I knew that could act like she was the dumbest person on the planet, while she was actually passing all AP courses.

"U-Uhm. Yes. Just take a seat girls." He said, blushing a deep red. Class ended quickly. I walked out of class, linking arms with Holly, laughing the entire way.

"Let's go meet the guys on the steps." She suggested. I nodded my head in agreement and took off towards the steps of the Met. "By the way what are we doing for your birthday?"

My birthday was three days away. Honestly I had no idea what we were doing but I knew that Holly would plan something insanely huge.

"Don't care. All I care about is getting my charm." I said, dangling my arm in front of her face.

"I don't know why you still wear that thing, isn't it from when you were like nine?" She asked. Immediately the image of Edward filled my head. I felt the tears begin to pool in my eyes, and quickly blinked them away. I hadn't seen Edward since we were 10. We lost touch and I soon stopped going back to Forks, haunted by his nine year old form.

"It's important to me, okay?" I snapped at her. Every year since I moved I either received a charm from Renee or Edward. Well, after my 10th birthday the ones from Edward stopped coming. But since I got it, a diamond heart, a single pearl, a music note, a hockey stick, a sapphire gem and a few others had been added. This year, I asked for my old hockey number, 8, to be added.

Holly just rolled her eyes at me and we kept walking in silence. We reached the steps soon enough. The steps were legendary for "the elite" to hang out around there, or go and play Frisbee in Central Park right across the way.

I felt two strong arms wrap around me from behind and I flinched slightly at the touch. I turned to see Danny smiling his perfect, white toothed smiled. He was probably one of the best looking guys I had ever seen. He had perfect blond hair, that fell around his eyes in a carefree kind of way. He had big blue eyes and very sculpted muscles.

"Hey, babe." He said, letting his lips crash into mine. I let myself be pulled into his kiss and tangled my hands in his hair.

"Hey, Danny." I said when we finally parted. He pulled me over to where his friends were sitting and sat back down, pulling me with him, next to his lacrosse stick.

"Hey, Bella." His friends chorused as Danny pulled me onto his lap.

"So, coming to the party tonight, babe? It's gonna be a good one." He said, bumping fists with his best friend, Alex.

"Yup. I'll be there with Holly." I said, nodding my head over to where Holly was peacefully perched on Billy's lap. Billy and Holly actually loved each other. I never really thought that was possibly at our age, but somehow they did it. You could tell by the way he was gentle with her, as if she would break in an instant, unlike Danny who pulled me in every which direction.

"Well good, wouldn't want my girlfriend to miss this one." Danny said, smacking my thigh with his big hand. I pulled away. I hated when he would do things like that. "I'm gonna head back to practice. I'll see you at the party."

He gave me a kiss, the kind of kiss that makes you uncomfortable. The kind of kiss that starts off sweet then turns to overly passionate in three seconds. I wasn't in the mood as it was, I was too busy thinking about Edward, so the fact that he forced his tongue down my throat wasn't pleasing.

"Bell, I gotta get back for a history test. Are you going back?" Holly turned to me when she finished saying goodbye to Billy.

"Nah, I think I'll just hang out around the park or go home." I said, pulling my sweatshirt over my head.

"Okay. I'll come over after school to get ready." She said, running back towards school. I watched her until I couldn't see her anymore.

A burst of wind hit me hard and I shuddered under my old sweatshirt. It wasn't even my sweatshirt. It was still Emmett's hockey sweatshirt. He would send me one every few years, remembering how much I loved his old one.

I spent the next two hours staring at my phone, wandering through the park. I stared at the number I knew like the back of my hand. It was the Cullen's number. I always caught myself tempted to call around my birthday. I never felt like I had a place in New York. It just felt like I was someone's place holder; like I was just waiting for someone to show up and take back their life and let me go back to mine.

I found myself standing outside my building. I didn't even have a house anymore. I had a building. Sure I had Holly and Danny, but not everything was perfect. I didn't have my brother, and I didn't have Edward.

These funks usually happened three times a year, I would be reminded of Edward and my old life, and I would freeze. I wouldn't feel anything. I just hid myself from New York and kept pretending my "new life" was as usual.

Next I found myself in the center of Central Park, perched high on the rocks I used to play on when I was little. You could see the entire park from up there. I went there a lot when I had to think. It was peaceful.

_I love it how she drinks booze in the morning_

_Yeah its so sexy how she cant remember last night_

_I made the fatal mistake of telling her not to drink again_

_But who am I to tell her how to live her life_

The sound of my ringtone brought my back to reality. I didn't even look at my phone; I just answered it. At first I was hopeful, praying for it to finally be Edward, but my hope rapidly fell.

"Hello?" I asked

"Hey girl. Where are you?" Holly's voice filled my head.

"What?"

"It's 3. I'm at your house, and you're not here." She said.

"Oh shit. I lost track of time. I'll be there in like two seconds. I'm just in the park." I said, scrambling to get down off the rocks.

"Okay. See you girlie." She said before hanging up the phone.

I made it back to my building in a minute, saying a quick hello to the doorman. The ride up to my penthouse was slow, the elevator seemed to take much longer than usual. I was really not in the mood to go to Danny's party anymore.

"Hey! What took you so long?" Holly asked as soon as the elevator doors opened.

"The elevators are moving like super slow today. Are we gonna get ready or what?" I asked, throwing my bag in the corner.

"Yeah, sure. Oh here are your keys by the way. I drove the car back home." She said, throwing me my keychain.

"I'm going to jump in the shower. Make yourself at home, although seeing as how you just let yourself in before I'm sure that won't be a problem." I said, laughing lightly.

I watched her flop onto the couch and turn the TV on. I shook my head as I walked into my bathroom and turned the water on. Renee was never home because of work, so I never felt weird showering while my friends just hung out in the family room. I let the hot water run down my back, making my already super long hair, even longer.

I stepped out of the shower and rang out my hair on a towel. When my hair was wet it hit my lower back. When it was dry and curly it hit my mid back. My hair was my pride and joy. I would never cut it.

"Ready?" I called out to Holly. She got up off the couch and came into my room. I pulled out my short tennis skirt and an argyle sweater.

"Golf Pros and Tennis Hoes is such a good idea for a party!" Holly said as she got out her own skirt and sweater out.

"Yeah. It'll be fun, I guess." I mumbled the last part softly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." I continued getting ready, pulling my long hair up in a ponytail. I tied my sweater around my shoulders, leaving my turquoise polo visible. I grabbed my tennis racquet and headed out the door, Holly quick on my heels.

"Oh, my brother says hi. He came back from college a few days ago. I guess I forgot to tell you." Holly said.

"No shit? He's home? Is he still there?" I asked, excited. I was pretty close to her brother.

"I'm not sure. I think Tommy might have gone back yesterday." She said, sitting there to ponder the idea. I knew her brother long before I knew her. I met Tommy back on the plane ride from Forks. I didn't know that Holly was Tommy's sister until I collided with him in the hall way of her house a few years back.

"Fuck. Tell me next time he comes home." I said.

"You know Danny doesn't like you seeing him, Bella."  
'Yeah whatever." I said. We got to Danny's apartment in no time and walked in. I grabbed a beer from the cooler and went to find Danny.

"Steven, have you seen, Danny?" I asked, taking a long swig of my beer.

"Yeah. I think he's in the family room." Steven said, not turning to look at me, but rather grabbing on to the blonde next to him.

I walked into the family room and say Danny on the couch doing shots. He saw me and motioned me over to him. When I got close enough for him to grab me he did, and forcefully pulled me onto his lap. I closed my eyes afraid of what would happen next.

"Hey babe." He slurred into my ear. I sighed with relief.

"Hi Danny." I said, not drunk enough to purr back at him. He pulled at the charm bracelet on my wrist and it nearly broke.

"Why-y do you fe-e-e-l the need-d to alwaysss wear this-s-s?" He asked me; I could barely understand him.

"Because it means something to me." I said, pulling away from him.

"He doesn't care about you-u-u. Why-y do you think-k he stopped-d calling-g?" I couldn't take it anymore and got off his lap and slapped him.

I moved to quickly for him to catch me. I did a jello shot and grabbed three more beers on my way down the stairs. I heard Danny screaming my name; I could hear the anger dripping off his voice. I moved faster.

"Take these." I slurred to some random kid, handing him my empty beer bottles.

"BELLA!" Danny called from the top of the stairs. That's the last thing I remembered.

I woke up the next morning in my own bed. I was sore, but I couldn't remember what from. I felt like I had just run a marathon. Then suddenly the visions of last night danced across my eyes like a bad movie. I needed to do something.

"Mom?" I called from my room. I prayed that she was still home.

"Kitchen!" Her voice called back.

"Mom. I need help." I said softly the tears beginning to fill my eyes.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" She said, I could see the worried glaze begin to cover her eyes.

I told her everything that happened last night. I broke down and cried when I got to the end of the night. She wrapped her arms around me and actually acted like a mother, for the first time in 9 years.

"What do I do?" I said, letting the tears fall.

"I'll think of something. Are you going to be okay here if I go to work for a little bit?" She asked. I knew she would take the day off if I asked but I wouldn't do that to her.

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll stay here and watch movies." I said. She promised she would be back by 5 and would have a plan. She gave me one final hug goodbye and went to work.

I watched movies all day as I told Renee I would. When I finally ran out of movies to watch I started watching Friday Night Lights, there was a marathon on TV. The phone rang and my heartbeat stopped.

"Hello?" I asked, ready to hang up the phone.

"Bella, its me." Renee's voice soothed me.

"Hey Mom." I said.

"I just wanted you to know I have a plan. Everything's set up." She said, I could hear her typing on her computer.

"What is it?" I asked, excitedly.

"Sweetie, you're going back to Forks. You leave tomorrow morning, you are not to tell anyone that you're leaving. Your father knows that you're coming, but not why." She said. I was silent.

"It's the only way. You know I wouldn't do this if I didn't have to." She said. Secretly my heart was beating with joy. I always wanted to go back to Forks. Just not under these conditions.

"When do I need to be packed?" I asked; it was the only thing I could logically think of.

"You should start now. Whatever you don't finish, I'll just ship to you. I have to go but I'll be home soon. I love you, sweetie."

"I love you too, Mom. And Thanks." I said before hanging up the phone.

I was going back to Forks.

* * *

**So this is Bellas new life. Please review. You're reviews last time were amazinggg. Oh and listen to the title of the Story if you get a chance. Its called Make It Count by Boys will Be Boys. It goes really well with the story. review awayy**


	3. Because You're Always Afraid Of Somethin

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." – Nelson Mandela

Bella POV

"Ladies and Gentleman, we've reached our gate and are opening the cabin doors right now. We'd like to thank you for flying with us today and please enjoy your stay in the Seattle area." The captain said.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and stood up in my first class seat. I stretched my arms up, and tried to reach the ceiling. It felt good to not be sitting anymore. I grabbed my bag and walked off the plane, straight into the past.

I felt like I had literally just traveled back in time. Everything was the same. The same old blue chairs were there at the gate and the same old newsstands were lining the halls. I couldn't help but look over my shoulder as I continued to walk down to baggage claim.

"Bella?" I heard from over my shoulder. I turned around to see Charlie standing there. H looked almost exactly the same, with the minor exception of a few gray hairs.

"Daddy!" I screamed, it had been over 6 years since I had actually seen my dad. I walked over to him and he wrapped his arms around me.

"Its been way too long, Bella." He said, into my hair. "Look at how you've changed, except I think you wore that outfit when you left." I looked down to see I was in one of Emmett's newer hockey sweatshirts and shorts. I looked really similar to my 9 year old self.

"It's been a while." I said, my tone a little mean.

"I'm sorry Bella. With the promotion to Chief, and Emmett's hockey, we just never really had a good time to come out." Charlie said, looking down at his feet.

"Charlie, its fine." I said, walking towards the carousel where my suitcases were.

"Charlie?" He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Mom let me call her Renee." I said innocently, shrugging my shoulders.

"Yeah, about that. We'll see." He mumbled, grabbing two of my suitcases. "Geez, I should have brought Emmett had I known you had this much stuff."

"Nine years is a long time. You acquire a lot of stuff." I laughed. We caught up a little, talking about my old school and Holly. Not once did I mention Danny.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind. I got you a gift. I meant to give it to you for your 16th birthday, but it was kind of hard being so far away." He said, blushing. He lead me outside to a beautiful midnight blue pick up truck. When the sun hit it, the paint sparkled. I was in love.

"Nice truck, Dad." I said, pulling my suitcases in the back.

"Glad you like it. It's yours." He said. He chuckled; I guess my expression was pretty good. I could feel my jaw drop and my eyes bug out of my head.

"No way!" I said, jumping up to hug him.

I got to drive it home too. That was quiet the experience. Every so often Charlie would yell at me to take a left or a right. I forgot how much of Forks I didn't know. I pulled into the driveway about an hour later.

"Jeez, whose Jeep is that?" I asked, jumping out of the drivers seat, admiring a huge Jeep Wrangler in front of me.

"Your brothers." Charlie said, shaking his head.

"Is he home?" I asked, a smile creeping on my face.

"Nope. He had to go to the rink and do a lesson with the mites today. He should be home in about an hour or two. I have to run to the station. Are you going to be alright here?" He said, grabbing his jacket.

"Yup. I'll be fine. I'll unpack then I might go for a ride." I said, dragging my first bag up the stairs.

"You're room is still up and to the left. We decided not to touch it, but we did get you a new bed and some new furniture. Emmett put it together so I'd test it out before actually laying on the bed." He said as he walked out the door.

I laughed at my dad's lack of faith in my brother. I brought all my bags upstairs and flopped on the bed. Luckily, it didn't collapse, I wasn't sure if the floor could withstand that. I unpacked most of my stuff when I grabbed my new keys and headed out the door.

When I was behind the wheel, I realized that I had no idea where anything was. I knew exactly two locations in the whole town. The Cullen's house, and the hockey rink. I hedged my bets and drove to the rink. I forgot however, that you have to drive past the Cullen's to get to the rink.

I got to the arena faster than I remember it taking. I pulled in and sat in my car for a while. I looked around the parking lot and a few other cars, none that I recognized. I let the music from my stereo cloud my thoughts for a while.

_I love it how she drinks booze in the morning_

_Yeah its so sexy how she cant remember last night_

_I made the fatal mistake of letting her drink again_

_But who the hell am I to tell her how to live her life_

I looked at my phone and immediately threw it against the back seat. It kept ringing and I knew that Danny wasn't going to give up that easy. I got out of the car, leaving my phone in back and slammed the door.

I walked into the rink and felt at home. The cold air blew around me and I wished I had changed into a pair of jeans. I shivered under my sweatshirt. Shit it was a lot colder in here than I remembered.

I heard the sounds of a whistle and my head turned up, pointing in the direction it came from. I saw five big guys out on the ice, they must have been the coaches because none of them had on gear. Around them I saw about 20 little kids, scurrying around on the ice.

I went over and sat on the bleachers. I pulled my knees into my chest and smiled. I watched as the kids moved around the ice, falling and sliding around each other. I laughed as one kid completely took out a coach.

I laughed loud enough that one of the coaches looked over at me, and just stared at me for a moment, he looked so familiar it gave me the chills. I gave an awkward wave, not knowing what else I should do. They started nudging each other and nodding over at me and looking back at the one guy.

Once the whole show was done and the one guy still hadn't looked over, I felt unbelievably uncomfortable. I walked out of the rink and bought a hot chocolate at the snack bar.

"Excuse me? Miss?" I heard a big voice, coming from behind me. "I believe that belongs to me."

"And who the hell do you think you are?" I said, angrily, turning around. I froze. Before me stood a huge, and when I say huge, I mean the biggest person I have ever seen, boy in front of me. I took a step back afraid of what type of reaction he would have.

"Is that any way to talk to your big brother, Bellbo?" He said. My heart must have skipped a beat.

"EMMY!" I said jumping up into his arms. He pulled me into a bone crushing hug and spun me around. When he finally put me down on the ground, I got a good look at him.

"Seriously, what's with the steroids, Em?" I asked, squeezing his insane biceps.

"What's with the hair? Ever heard of a haircut? Or do they not do that in New York?" He said, picking up a handful of my hair. I smacked his arm and went in for another hug.

"Its good to be home, Em." I said into his chest.

"Its good to have you back, sis." He said, the suddenly he pulled away. "Edwards in there! Come on! Lets go have the big reunion!"

"Actually I'm going to go home. I think I'm gonna grab some groceries and start making you and Daddy dinner." I said, shying away from him. I really did not want to go back in there.

"C'mon Bellbo. I bet he really wants to see you. At least let me tell him you're back, or invite him for dinner." He pleaded. I shook my head.

"Let me do this on my own time, Emmy. 9 years is a lot of time. I can't just walk back in. Let me do this with my own time." I said.

"Fine. I won't say anything. I'm glad you're back, Bell." He said, pulling me into another hug.

"Me too." I whispered. When I got back to the car I wiped away a few tears that had fallen. I shook my head and checked my phone. 23 missed calls. 7 from Holly, 11 from Danny. I cleared them all.

I drove into the center of town, hoping to find the grocery store. I did and when I pulled in the parking lot was packed. I guess it's the only thing to do here on a Saturday.

_God I hope I don't run into anyone I know, or anyone that recognizes me as Charlie's kid. I just want to get dinner. _

As soon as I thought that, I saw her. Esme Cullen. In the flesh. Oh and just wonderful, Alice Cullen in tow. Oh shit. I think they saw me. Oh god. Here we go. So much for being subtle Bella. This was real smooth.

"Excuse me, I believe that's my cart." I said, walking up right behind Alice. She turned around and told me off.

"Last time I checked this was-" She stopped dead in her tracks. "ISABELLA SWAN!" She cried.

"Mary Alice Cullen!" I cried right back. I missed her energy while I was in New York.

She pulled me into a tight hug and I instantly felt at home. I relaxed under her arms.

"It's good to see you Al." I said, moving on to hug Esme. She hugged me and held me tight to my body.

"Oh Bella, I've missed you." She whispered. I pulled away and looked at them. Esme hadn't changed one bit. Alice, well Alice grew maybe a foot, but she was still no more than five feet tall. I sighed, the cat was out of the bag now.

"Does Edward know your back, dear?" Esme asked, gently laying a hand on my arm.

"No." I said, looking at the floor.

"I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see you. He's over at the rink now. Do you have his cell number I'm sure he'd love to hear from you." She continued.

"This is gonna be great! He's going to be so excited! You have to come to dinner! Oh! Better, let's go shopping!" Alice said, jumping up and down.

"Uhm, I don't think he really wants to see me anytime soon. He did stop sending the charms, and stopped writing. I really think we should just ease into this." I said, softly.

"I think you need to talk to him, Bella. There's more than meets the eye with that boy. He's missed you. That's all I'll tell you, you need to be the one to talk to him." Esme said.

"I don't know. Just promise me you won't say anything." I pleaded.

"I won't say anything. But Bella, I really think you two need to talk." Esme said. "It's great to have you home finally, dear. I'm sure I'll see you around." She squeezed my hand before walking off.

"Don't think you're getting off that easy, Bells. We're gonna hang out! I won't tell little Eddie anything but you and I need to catch up." She said, looping arms with me and dragging me down an aisle. She reminded me so much of Holly.

"Fine. I have to get food though, so looks like were grocery shopping." I sighed, leaning against my cart. We walked up and down the aisle, talking about life in New York.

"Does the city ever really sleep?" She asked, curiously.

"Yes, Alice. Well, it blacks out." I said, thinking of my last night there, I shuddered.

"You okay, Bell?" Alice asked, looking at me with a puzzled expression. I shook my head yes, not trusting my voice. She kept asking me questions, about my old friends. I told her everything, well almost everything.

We finished up grocery shopping and loaded up my truck. Alice danced over to the passenger side, sliding gracefully in. We kept talking about my life in New York, all the way back to my house. Alice helped unload the groceries and then sat down on a stool and looked at me.

"Do you want to talk about him?" She asked, softly.

"About who?" I asked, not turning around from the stove.

"Edward."

"No." I said, curtly.

"Why the hell not? You cant just ignore that you guys were friends. Best friends." She said, getting annoyed.

"Because Alice, every birthday, every holiday, every fucking day, I would wish and hope that maybe just maybe he would call or do something to remind me that he still cared. He was the one who stopped writing, who stopped sending gifts, he stopped. And you know what, that broke my heart. So I'm sorry if right now, no I cant face him. Because every time I think about facing him, I think of every time I wished he was there, and it breaks my heart just a little bit more. So I'm sorry, but no, I don't want to talk about him right now." I said, hanging my head down, wiping away a tear.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. I turned and leaned up against the fridge and threw my head back, closing my eyes.

All of a sudden I heard my front door open and I assumed it was just Emmett. I stayed in the kitchen and kept my head back against the fridge.

"Edward, really, uhm- uh – we really can't hang out at my house Uh- Charlie just uh- painted the walls." Emmett called loudly. My eyes shot open and I looked frantically at Alice.

"Upstairs. Run." She whispered. I did as she said and scrambled up the stairs, hoping to go unnoticed.

Alice POV

I made sure Bella was completely upstairs before I awkwardly walked into the living room to face my brother and Emmett.

"Hey boys." I said, trying to sound casual. I looked over at Emmett and saw him relax a little.

"Alice? What are you doing here?" Edward said, looking around.

"I was uh-…" Oh shit, I thought, I hadn't come up with that excuse.

"She was helping the paint dry." Emmett said. I turned and looked at him with wide eyes and shook my head.

"Yup, you know me, that paint needed a little emotional support. Anyways time to go Eddie-boy. Moms making dinner." I said, linking arms with Edward, pulling him towards the door.

"Shit, I forgot my phone upstairs. Stay here. Don't move." I commanded Edward as I ran back into the house.

"You're such an idiot, Emmett." I called as I ran up the stairs into Bella's room. I heard him chuckle as I went up the stairs.

"Bella its just me." I said opening the door. She was over in the corner on the floor crying.

"Is he gone?" She asked.

"We're leaving now." I said, pulling her into a hug.

"I'll see you later, Al." She said, pulling away. "Text me about shopping, I need some new clothes, it is so cold here." She said, laughing a little.

"I will, trust me. We can go tomorrow or something." I said, getting up and putting my number in her phone. I walked towards the door and turned back around to see her now laying on the bed with her arm over her eyes.

"You can't run forever, Bella." And with that I softly shut the door.

**Author Note-** Hello Lovely Readers. Sorry this chapter took so long, Halloween at college was crazy this year. Kyle and I hosted a party for our friends so i've been super busy. Anyways, next chapter will be the major reuniting scene. So review away, I'm holding out for reviews this time, last time you guys were great! Keep it up! Love.


	4. Because Everything Changes

**Disclaimer- I do not own Twilight .. This is the disclaimer for the whole story**

"Sometimes a relationship going through hell isn't so bad if you come out of it a stronger person. The same thing is true about friends." – Felicity

Bella POV

Alice's words from yesterday burned through me. All throughout dinner that night I kept hearing, _You cant run forever_ over and over in my head. I couldn't get it out of my head.

I woke up this morning, miserable to say the least. I had school in two days and today Alice was taking me shopping. I rolled over in bed and turned on my music. The sound of New Found Glory filled my room.

_I feel locked away _

_With the weight of the world on my shoulders_

_Crushing on my head are boulders_

_Made of lies and dust from all of us_

_What of the bonds we've made _

_That have started to fade_

_We can't control the time_

_But right now I'll take what I can get out of my life_

_Medicate me again_

_So I fall away_

_Medicate me again_

_So I fall away_

_I feel so torn between _

_Two different sides of an opinion_

_Don't know what state I've been in_

_Don't believe in trust, for only one of us_

_What of the progress made_

_That night we all forgave_

_It was a thought out crime_

_But you should take what you can get out of this life_

_I never said I didn't need you_

_Put down your arms_

_And wrap them both right around me_

_Right around me_

The last line to the song made my heart swell. That's what I wanted. I wanted nothing but to feel Edward's hug again. The same one I felt the day I left the dreary place. I heard my phone beep on the side of my bed, waking me from the memory replaying in my head.

**To: Bella**

**From: Alice**

**Hey! Want to meet up at the mall at 1? Em can give you directions. Is it okay if I bring someone I want you to meet?**

**To: Alice**

**From: Bella**

**As long as its not Edward. 1 sounds fine. I'll call you when I get there.**

I decided to take a quick shower before going downstairs to make some breakfast. It was already 11. I let the water untangle my bed head and wove my strawberry shampoo through my locks.

I got out of the shower and ran a brush through my hair. I decided to just leave it down and let it curl naturally instead of trying to mess with it. I pulled on my old ripped jeans and a blue v-neck long sleeve shirt.

Loud booming laughter came from downstairs and I jumped. I was so used to being in the house by myself that being here with Emmett was taking some getting used to. To add to my already startled state of being, my phone started to loudly buzz on my night side table.

_One New Message_. I tapped my iphone, expecting it to be Alice again but it wasn't.

**To: Bella**

**From: Holly**

**What the fuck Bella. Where are you?!?**

Still not wanting to deal with my old life, I put my phone on silent and shoved it in my pocket. I slipped on my shoes and headed down the old creaky stairs to the kitchen, where I found Emmett sitting at the counter eating cereal.

"Cereal is in the cabinet." He said, but it came out as mush due to all the food in his mouth.

"Thanks." I mumbled. "Oh hey, want to tell me how to get to the mall. I'm meeting Alice around 1."

"Sure thing. Actually you can just go with me, I'm going to meet some of the hockey team there for lunch." He said, his mouth still full of food.

"Em, you're just eating breakfast now. Seriously you're going to get lunch in two hours?"

"One hour actually, you could just hang out with me til Alice came to take you shopping." He said, finally looking up at me. It was so hard to say no to his big dumbfounded face.

"Yeah sure. I might actually just start looking around til Alice gets there but we can go together." I said, pouring some cereal.

"It's nice having you back." Emmett said, after a few moments of silence.

"I like being back. New York sucks." I said, resting my head on his shoulder. "I missed having my big brother around."

"I think everyone in this town missed having the famous girl hockey player around." Emmett laughed. "Do you still play? I bet you kicked ass on a team out in New York. I hear east coast hockey is insane."

"I didn't play." I said, coldly. Emmett just looked at me like I had told him I committed a crime. I merely shrugged my shoulders and brought my empty bowl to the sink.

"So how's Forks been without me?" I asked, trying desperately to change the subject.

"Eh, it's been filled with hockey. I just started hanging out with Cullen cause he had no one else who would play hockey with him. It's basically him and this kid Jasper Hale, and me now. Oh and there's Rosalie, my girlfriend. She's Jasper's sister. We've been dating for a few years now. You'll probably meet her soon." He said, leaning over the counter to put his bowl in the sink.

"A few years?! What did she slip your mind when you would call?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips.

"Eh. I don't really remember. Anyways how bout you? Anyone special in New York." He asked.

"No." I responded, anger pulsing through my words. "Nothing like that."

We sat in silence for a few more minutes before he asked me to help him with something upstairs. We got up stairs and he started digging around in his closet and finally pulled out and box.

"It's for you. Rose helped me pick it out and forgot to send it." He said, turning a little red. I opened to box to find a necklace with a B hanging off of it.

"It's beautiful, Emmy." I said, wrapping my arms around his waist. My arms didn't even go all the way around him.

"Rose thought you might like it." He said, sheepishly. "Anyways we can go now. Wouldn't want there to be a line at Taco Bell." He said, wrapping an arm around me shoulder.

I put the necklace securely around my neck and walked downstairs with him. I tripped on the bottom stair only to be caught by Emmett.

"Just as clumsy as you used to be. This is great!" He said, putting my back on my feet. I mumbled a thanks as we headed out to his car.

We climbed into his huge jeep and took off. I texted Alice and let her know that I was with Emmett and to text me when she got there. We got to the mall in no time and Emmett dragged me towards the food court. He told me that Rosalie would be there and I could meet her.

"Rosie!" Emmett cried, picking up some blonde girl and swinging her around. She laughed and playfully swatted his arm. This was probably what it felt like to be in love.

"Emmett Swan you put me down right now!" She laughed. When he put her down I finally noticed how beautiful she was. She was tall and thin, and had gorgeous blond hair that hung down her back. She wore dark skinny jeans and a brown zip up hoodie.

"Rosie, I want you to meet Bella, my sister." He said, moving aside so that Rosalie could see me. She came up and hugged me. It was weird, having someone be so friendly right away.

"I'm impressed that someone so calm is related to this one." She said, motioning back to Emmett. "I'm really excited that you're here to stay though Bella. Emmett's told me how amazing you are."

"Yeah, it's nice to be back." I said, not knowing what else to say to her. We sat around for the next few minutes, talking about life in New York and how her and Emmett met. Turns out that Rose was the girl Alice was bringing shopping with us and was shocked to find that we already knew each other.

Alice took us shopping around the mall for hours. And when I say hours, I'm not exaggerating. I've never met someone who could shop more than Alice. She pulled out a whole new wardrobe for me, periodically going back to Emmett's jeep to throw the bags in.

"Here, I'll take the last few bags." I offered, holding my arms out for the remaining bags.

"Meet us in the food court when you get back!" Alice said, linking arms with Rose and walking towards the food court. I enjoyed the few minutes I had to myself to think. I let my mind freely wander as I loaded up the jeep and shut the door. On my way back in I was stopped by a blond boy.

"Do I know you?" He asked me, running a hand through his shaggy blond hair. It fell in front of his eyes and I saw Danny at first glance. I froze but then looked back to see that he had different eyes than Danny.

"I don't think so. I just moved here with my brother and dad." I said, trying to avoid this stranger.

"Are you sure you don't go to school here? You look so familiar." He said, still looking at me like he'd seen a ghost.

"Positive. I just got here from New York. I'll start school next week I think." I said, still trying to get around this guy. He just kept walking with me towards the mall.

"I'm Kevin, by the way." He said. Kevin. That name sounded oddly familiar, but then again it was a fairly common name.

"Bella." I said, this time finally losing him as he stopped dead in his tracks. Whatever his deal was he was really weird and I didn't want to run into him again.

I picked up my pace, walking quickly towards the food court. I heard Emmett'a

booming laughter before I saw any of my friends. I laughed silently to myself. When I looked up I saw Alice and Rose sitting at a table full of guys.

Emmett and Rose were sitting at one end of the table, Rose eating a few of Emmett's fries while he laughed with his friends. Alice was perched on some blond guy's lap, while he looked at her with adoring eyes. There were three more guys at the table, two whom I had never seen before.

The other was Edward. In the flesh. Edward Cullen was directly in front of me. He was sitting with his back towards me, the only thing I recognized about him was his bronze, messy hair. Had his sweatshirt not said CULLEN across the back I may have not noticed.

I couldn't do this. I walked quickly to a nearby store and whipped out my phone. I scrolled through my contacts til I found Alice and quickly sent her a message.

**To: Alice**

**From: Bella**

**I cant do this. He's right there. I'm sitting in some store. I cant do this.**

**To: Bella**

**From: Alice**

**I'm coming to get you. It wont be bad at all. It's just him and a few friends from hockey. Everything will be fine. **

Alice no sooner appeared in the store and had her small arm linked through mine.

"You'll be fine. It's literally just Edward, Emmett, my boyfriend, Jasper, Will, and Gray." She said. We walked towards the food court and I froze again. She gave me an encouraging nudge and we kept moving.

"Another crazy sale you needed to run off to, Alice?" Edward said.

"Couldn't miss getting this." Alice said, pulling me into everyone's view.

"There you are, Bella. I was beginning to worry you got lost in the parking lot." Rose joked, getting a booming laugh from Emmett.

"She would." Emmett said between laughs.

"Gee thanks, Em." I said, moving quickly into a seat near him and Rose. I avoided picking my head up and looking at him, but I could feel his stare from across the table.

"Edward you look like you've seen a ghost man." One of the guys at the end of the table said.

"I have, Gray." He said and got up and took off. I watched as Edward Cullen walked out of my life again.

"Bella, don't take it personally. It's just been a while." Alice said, climbing back onto Jasper's lap.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I said, slinking back into my chair as I watched his bronze head bob away in the distance. I've lived without him for years now, I was used to him walking away from me.

"Gray, Will, this is my little sister I was telling you about Bella." Emmett said, breaking the silence that had formed. That brought me back to reality as I looked down to the end of the table to see the two boys.

"Hi." I said, meekly. I hated how shy I could be at times.

"So the famous Bella Swan returns to home ice. I hear you were quite the hockey player." Will said.

"I don't really play anymore. I didn't play in New York, its been years since I've touched a stick." I said.

"Wait- Bella Swan doesn't play hockey anymore?" Alice said, nearly falling off of Jasper's lap.

"Long story. Things change. Everything changes, right?" I said, I didn't know how I felt about everyone knowing the real reason I quit. I wasn't ready for that yet.

The table suddenly got very quiet and I felt as though everyone was staring at me. I stole one of Emmett's fries and just sat there, staring at the table, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone.

"We're gonna go. It was nice to finally meet you Bella Swan." Gray said. He and Will got up from the table and walked off as everyone said bye.

"Does everyone feel the need to use both my first and last name today?" I asked, looking around the table.

"You have quite the reputation around here, well at least you did when you first moved." Jasper said. "I'm Jasper Hale by the way."

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking at him like he had just spoken in German.

"Well everyone on the team always used to say Bella Swan would do that much better or Bella Swan would take a hit better than that. Then one day around 7th grade the joke got to Edward and he freaked out at this kid on the team Marc and told him to never say your name again. Ever since then its like you were the elephant in the room." Jasper explained.

"Weird." I said, shaking my head. Then it hit me, that was the same year the Edward stopped calling me. That was the year that everything changed.

"Did he ever give you a reason as to why he freaked out?" I asked, looking straight at Jasper. He made me feel calm; it was odd.

"Nope." Jasper said, popping the 'p'. Now I was really confused. Alice quickly changed the subject though.

"So Bella, are you excited about school tomorrow? Can I please, please, please come over and help you get ready tomorrow?" Alice asked, nearly jumping out of her skin. I laughed.

"Yeah I guess. How bad is it gonna be tomorrow?" I asked.

"Not too bad. You'll have us. I'm not going to lie, you'll be the new kid, but great thing is you already have like the best group of friends ever." Rosalie said, rubbing my arm gently. I turned and smiled at her.

"Yeah, it's definitely no New York." Emmett added, throwing a fry at me. I laughed and threw it back at him. We all sat around laughing at pointless things till around 7.

"Bell, we should probably get home so we can go out with Dad tonight." Emmett said, getting up and kissing Rose goodbye.

"See you guys tomorrow!" I said, as I went walking off with Emmett towards the car.

"Don't take it personally, Bella. Edward's changed a lot, you guys both just need to get back into the swing of things. He didn't run from you today, he ran from himself." Emmett said, draping his arm around my shoulder.

"You're such a softy, Emmy." I said, elbowing him in the side. He laughed and then picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" I said, laughing while I hit his back. He just kept chuckling and walked right to the jeep. He finally put me down when we got to the car and I buckled my seatbelt. My phone started to vibrate and I pulled it out.

"Whose that?" Emmett asked.

"My old life's calling." I said, ignoring the call and putting my iphone on the dashboard.

"Not going to pick it up?"

"I'm not ready to deal with that yet." I said, leaning back and closing my eyes. We made it back home in no time, but Emmett didn't pull into the driveway, rather he kept driving.

"Uh, I know I just got here but I'm almost positive that was our driveway." I said, watching the driveway disappear in the background.

"I know, silly Bellbo. We're going to meet Dad for dinner." Emmett laughed.

Dinner went by smoothly. Charlie just talked about work at the station and asked me a few questions about New York. He asked about Renee and if I missed my friends in New York. In return I asked him and Emmett how things had been in Forks since my dreary departure and that sent them off in a tailspin on stories. I listened as my brother and dad laughed and laughed at their stories and finally decided it was time to go home.

I went upstairs to bed as soon as we got home. Tomorrow as going to be a long day and I didn't need to be half asleep for it. Like Jasper said, I was already the elephant in the room.

"Bella!" Alice called, her voice waking me up. I rolled over and looked at the clock to see it was only 6 in the morning. What the fuck?

"Alice, why are you waking me up so early?" I said, putting a pillow over my head as she turned on a light.

"Because you need a shower. Anyways shouldn't you be three hours ahead of us from the time difference? Technically your body thinks its 9." She said, matter of factly.

"Not like that's much better." I mumbled as I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom. I took a quick shower this morning, not wanting to piss off Alice.

I wrapped my towel around me and was about to go back into my room when I suddenly felt really hungry. I walked downstairs in my towel to grab an apple. I figured Emmett was still asleep and Charlie had left for work already. Oh was I wrong.

I got downstairs only to find Jasper, Rosalie and Edward sitting on my couch watching TV with Emmett.

"Morning." Jasper called from the couch when he saw me standing in the kitchen. I felt my cheeks burn as I quickly remembered I was in a towel.

"Bella you might want to consider wearing more clothes than that for school. I'll come up and help you and Alice. Seriously that girl has lost her touch if this is what you were planning on wearing." Rose said, laughing as she walked up the stairs.

"Bell, you're as red as a tomato. This is great, mom thought that was just a phase your blushing. Go put some clothes on." Emmett said, throwing the remote at me. I immediately ran back up the stairs avoiding meeting Edward's eye.

"Do you guys do this often?" I asked Rosalie and Alice when I got back into my room. They were in fits of laughter on my bed.

"We just wanted to all go to school together today. That was quite the show down there though." Rose said, laughing hysterically. I grabbed the skinny jeans and purple florally top Alice had laid out on my bed for me. (AN- pictures in my profile) I came back from the bathroom a minute later ringing my hair out in the towel.

Alice handed me a pair of silvery wedge sandals. I slipped them on without a complaint. I wore heels every day to school back in New York; this was no different.

"The boys left, something about a hockey team meeting. You're going to school with us in my car." Rose said, coming back into the room.

"You can do this, Bella." Alice said, probably noticing the doubt behind my eyes. Alice did my make up really quickly before we left for school.

Forks High was nothing like my old private school. The nicest cars in the parking lot belonged to Alice, her nice yellow Porsche standing out, and Emmett's Jeep Wrangler. This was definitely going to be different.

Alice took me to the office to get my schedule and luckily no one had said anything to me yet about being back or Edward. However I was getting a ton of stares from people.

"We have the first two classes together!" Alice said, getting my attention back. I was watching these two girls who were staring at me through the office glass. I wondered who they were.

"Hey Al, who are those two girls?" I asked, nodding my head in their direction.

"Dumb and Dumber." She said, "Lauren and Jessica. They think they're all that. Lauren actually is dating my brother. Its horrible."

"Oh." Was all I could manage to say. So Edward had a girlfriend. Didn't see that one coming.

"Anyways we have history now. Lets go." Alice said, dragging me through the crowded halls. I could hear people whispering _Bella Swan's back? Isn't that the Swan girl?_ Remarks like that followed me everywhere these days.

I sat next to Alice in history and then again in Spanish. She showed me which way to go to get to precalc, and took off in the other direction. I made it there surprisingly on my first shot. When I got in I recognized Jasper and went and sat next to him and Gray.

"Hey Bella!" Jasper said. "Nice to see you put some more clothes on." I laughed.

"I definitely wasn't expecting you guys to be in my kitchen this morning. How was your hockey meeting?" I asked, probably turning all sorts of shades of red thinking about this morning.

"It was alright. They just announced captains and stuff since the season officially starts in a few days. Anyways, you can sit here. No one else does." Jasper said.

"Oh thanks. So who got captain?" I asked, smiling as I put my bag down on the ground.

"Your brother and uh, Edward." He said, Edward's name came out barely a whisper though.

"That's cool." I said, turning around to get out my notebook. Math went by quickly and when the bell rang again I got out of my seat and started putting my notebooks away.

"Bella its homeroom. We stay here for an extra ten minutes." Jasper said, laughing. I sat back down, feeling the blush burn through my cheeks. Suddenly I noticed one of the Dumb girls walking towards me.

"Don't think that just cause you're back Eddie's going to be all goody-goody with you, Bugly." She spat at me. I looked up and then over at Jasper, who was shaking his head and then mouthed a sorry in my direction.

"And who are you?" I asked, looking her up and down. She was pretty, but tacky looking.

"Lauren. Edward's girlfriend. Stay the fuck away from him." She hissed.

"Feeling threatened are we?" I said, my New York bite coming back.

"You think your clever, Bugly, but you're like not." She said, smacking her gum.

"Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about. But with your lack of brain cells I wouldn't imagine you would know your head from your ass." I said, rolling my eyes. God she was annoying. She stormed back to her seat and sat down, probably telling the girl next to her what a bitch I am.

"Bella, that was so great. No one has ever told her off." Gray said, grabbing his sides.

"Oh you are so Emmett's sister." Jasper said, leaning on the table for support. Thankfully the bell rang right then and I grabbed my bag, leaving. Glad I'm fitting in already.

"Bella! Alice said we have lunch together!" Rosalie called, moving through the sea of faces. Finally someone I knew.

"Oh hey Rose! Its nice to see a familiar face." I said, walking with her towards the cafeteria.

"Well luckily we all have lunch together so you'll get to see all of our lovely faces." She said, laughing. She was right, everyone was sitting around a table. There were three empty chairs.

"Hey guys." I said, sitting down next to Jasper. Alice was sitting on his left and Emmett was on my other side. Rose took the empty seat next to Emmett and there was one empty chair across from me in the circle.

"I was just tell them about math today, Bella." Jasper said, as he started to laugh again. I put my head down on the table and turned scarlet. Everyone was laughing by the time Jasper finished and Emmett patted me on the back.

"That girl sucks." I said, as I picked my head up. This got another round of laughs from the table. I put my head back down and closed my eyes. Before I knew it the bell was ringing for lab, and according to Alice I had lab today.

I walked to biology by myself, while everyone else stayed in lunch. I already knew I was going to hate bio, I got really faint at the sight of blood.

"Hi, I'm new here." I said, handing the teacher my 'new kid slip' as Emmett called it.

"Hello, Isabella. You can take a seat in the back right. You're lab partner should be here any minute." Mr. Witter said, mumbling about something under his breath. I walked back to the table and sat in the chair, hoping my desk partner would be friendly.

"We're going to go ahead and start the new chapter today, we're dealing with blood and everything about it." Mr. Witter said, I internally groaned, knowing this was going to suck.

"Mr. Cullen, nice of you to show up." Mr. Witter said. I looked up, my eyes wide as I look frantically around the room. The only empty seat was next to me. "Isabella's going to be your new lab partner, I assume you'll have nothing but respect for her."

Edward looked straight at me and I watched the color drain from his face. He sat down in the seat and moved it as close to the end of the table as possible. I tried to pay attention to Mr. Witter talk about cells and the different combination of blood you can have.

We did a microscope lab silently, while all the other groups spoke freely to each other. Edward and I said nothing. We finished earlier than everyone else and I took my seat back at the table. Edward went and talked to Mr. Witter, probably begging for a new partner.

He came back to the table and grabbed his backpack. Before he left he slid a piece of paper in my direction and then walked out the door. I looked at the folded paper and it said _Bells_ written in perfect cursive.

Shit. I felt the tears well up in my eyes. He called me Bells. That was his old nickname for me. I shoved the paper into my back pocket and went about the rest of my day. I had psych with Emmett and Jasper in the afternoon and study hall with Rosalie.

I got home as soon as possible, promising to call Alice later and explain why I was acting so weird. I sat down at my desk after throwing my bag on my bed and pulled out the note.

_Bells _….

**Lovely cliffhanger huh? =] Anyways review away and you'll find out what Edward wants faster. And who loves Lauren?! Tell me what you want to happen next! This story is for you guys. Review please!**

**Love **

**N**


	5. Because We're All A Little Vunerable

"See when you're mad, you don't miss people. So if you stay mad, it's like you never knew them at all. That way you don't feel sucky about them leaving you." – Uptown Girls

Bella POV

"Wait my brother did what?" Alice asked. We were sitting on her bed, laughing like little kids. The rest of the week had flown by and I was sleeping at Alice's house tonight.

"He gave me this note in bio." I said, handing her the note. I watched as she unfolded it.

"Bells- I need to explain some things. I hurt really badly when you left; I couldn't take the pain. It was like I was missing a piece of myself. It was horrible. I sat around and cried most of my time. I figured it would be easier to forget about you, then to actually deal with it. I hated myself for doing it, but it was what I needed to do. That's why I stopped calling, stopped writing, and stopped everything. I just couldn't take hearing your voice anymore. Eventually when it all stopped I thought I was healed. I thought that the hole in my heart was filled. I couldn't bring myself to open my old wounds. It hurts to see you now, which is why I must excuse my behavior lately. It was like my old wounds have been ripped open and I'm bleeding out. I'm bleeding out, Bells. I'm scared and I don't know what to do. We were best friends, and while I wished that I could have replaced that spot in my life, I just couldn't. Give me time to adjust to this, I need the bleeding to stop. But we're real friends, which means I'm here, whenever you need me. No matter how much it hurts me. Always, Eddie." Alice finished reading and looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"Kinda a double edged sword, if you ask me. Like he wants to be there, but it hurts both of us." I said, wiping away tears that trickled down my cheek.

"Aw, Bella. He'll come around." She said, wrapping an arm around me. I playfully shoved her off of me. "Anyways enough about my stupid brother, lets go watch a movie before dinner!"

"Sounds good." I said, thankful for the distraction. We got downstairs and crashed onto the couch. We were still laughing like little kids. Alice put in The Shining, much to my demise. I wasn't one for scary movies.

As we watched the TV I could feel my hands start to get sweaty and my pulse quickened. A door suddenly burst open both in the movie and in the Cullen house and I screamed. I turned around to see Edward standing in the doorway, his hair wet and messy.

"It's raining." He said before trudging up the stairs mumbling something about practice. This only caused Alice and me to erupt in another fit of laughter. We were literally rolling around on the couch with tears streaming down our faces. It wasn't even that funny. It just felt good to laugh again.

We went back to watching the movie and I went back to my sweaty hands and racing pulse. My phone went off in my pocket sending me into another fit of screams.

"Fuck." I said under my breath when I finally regained composure. I must have tossed my phone against the couch because when I went to go grab it I saw that Alice had already picked up. Shit.

"I'm not here- or in Washington for that matter. Alice hang up." I whispered to her, trying to get the phone back.

"Hello? Don't take that tude with me. I don't even know you. No this is not Bella it's Alice. Excuse me? You need to chill the fuck out. No I will not put Bella on the phone." She said into the phone and then violently slammed it shut. She turned and looked at me.

"Whose Danny?" Alice asked in a small voice.

"Boyfriend. Well ex-boyfriend I think. I just left without telling anyone. I'm not dating him anymore though." I said, not going into detail.

"Well he's a bitch." Alice said handing my phone back to me. I simply nodded and went back to the movie. The movie finished without any interruptions and Alice and I went back to her room.

"Want to play around with the makeup?" Alice asked dragging me to the bathroom. I knew it was better not to fight her on this one.

"Don't go overboard. I'm not a Barbie, Alice." I said, sitting in the chair she had put in her bathroom. There was knock on the door soon after she started.

"I'm going to get Chinese for dinner, what do you want?" Edward asked. I felt his eyes looking at me through the mirror but refused to look up at him.

"Get the usual." Alice said, before shooing him out the door. "Can't you see we're busy here, Edward?"

"Yeah, whatever. Mom said to be ready for dinner when I get back. Unless you guys want to go."

"Not a chance." Alice said, shutting the door behind him. "I'm sorry, Bella. That must have been really uncomfortable."

"Eh, I'm used to it." I shrugged wondering how horrible dinner would be. "Does your dad even know I'm back?"

"Nope. He's been at a business meeting in Australia all week. I haven't seen him." She said, putting eye shadow over my lids.

"Australia? That's pretty cool." I said. I had always wanted to go there.

"Yeah, he travels a lot. He's like the biggest doctor on the west coast now." Alice said, now putting hot rollers in my hair.

"Alice, we're having Chinese food, not going to the grammys you don't have to do my hair." I tried to argue, but in the end it was effortless. She curled my hair to perfection.

We spent the rest of the time in her room singing and dancing around to Taylor Swift. We were having a blast. It felt like I 9 again and could put on socks and slide around on the hard wood floor. Finally we were called for dinner and we ran down the stairs.

"Hey Esme." I said, through my giggles as Alice and I continued to slide around. She took one look at the two of us and laughed as well.

"Hello dear." She said, sitting down at one end of the table. There was an empty seat opposite of her, which I was assuming for Carlisle. Alice and I sat on one side, while Edward sat across from us.

"Dad should be here any minute." Esme said, "Dig in." Alice took a spoonful of the noodles and then handed it to me which I also took some. We sat silently helping ourselves when the door opened.

"Alice, what did your mother tell you about inviting people over for dinner?" He said, as he took off his coat.

"I thought family as allowed." She said simply, taking another bite of her food.

"Family?" He asked, sitting down. He turned to look at me and his eyes widened.

"Hey Carlisle." I said, smiling. He stared at me for a while, I'm assuming while it sunk in.

"Isabella Swan?" Carlisle asked; I nodded in return. "This is wonderful. Are you visiting Charlie and Emmett?"

"I actually moved back a few days ago. I plan on staying here until I graduate and then we'll see where we go." I said, taking a bite of my food.

"This is great! How as New York?" He asked, helping himself to some food. I noticed that Edward had stopped eating and was watching me. I felt like I was in the spotlight.

"It was lonely." I said, looking up at Edward. I could see the pain flash across his eyes. "I had a few close friends but it never really felt like home."

"You can take the girl out of Forks but you can never take the Forks out of the girl." Alice added. "I'm sure the shopping was great though."  
"Actually we had to wear uniforms at my old school. We were only allowed to change our shoes and add jewelry. I never wore much jewelry though. I usually just wore earrings and my bracelet." I said, holding up my wrist so they could see my charm bracelet.

"You still wear it." Edward said, staring intensely at my wrist.

"Never take it off." I said, looking straight into his green eyes. I couldn't read the emotion dancing across his eyes but it looked something like joy and sorrow mixed.

"How about Renee? How is she doing? Dating anyone these days?" Esme asked, changing the subject. I gave her a thankful look and she nodded.

"She's doing really well for herself. She married a minor league baseball player and gets to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous that she always wanted. I was just never cut out for the city life like she is. She loves it there." I said.

"That's great. I always knew you would come back to Forks one day, Bells. This town didn't seem the same without you." Carlisle said. I noticed Edward flinch a little when he heard his dad call me Bells.

"Yeah, I missed it here. I missed Dad and Emmett, too. Especially Emmett. I'm glad I came back." I said.

Dinner continued normally. I would occasionally look up and catch Edward staring. I would immediately look down when I caught him doing this though. I could feel the blush creep up on my cheeks and couldn't bring myself to look up until it faded.

"Bella and I are going to get ice cream. We'll be back later." Alice said, grabbing my hand and pulling me along with her.

"It was really great to see you again Carlisle." I said on my way out the door.

"I hope I'll see you around, Bella." He called after us. Alice dragged me all the way to her car.

"Al, do you seriously drive this?" I said, running my hand over the hood of her yellow Porsche.

"Duh. It's so sexy." She said, climbing into the driver seat. I got in and buckled my seatbelt.

"Is there even an ice cream place around here?" I asked.

"Yeah, its down near main street." She said, starting the car and pulling out of the driveway. While we were leaving, Edward came out onto the front porch holding something, trying to get our attention.

"Think we should stop?" I asked, looking at him as we moved farther apart.

"Nah." She said speeding off. We laughed the whole way to the Coldstone near the post office.

We stood in line for a while, considering it just opened. I looked around and noticed a really hot guy a few people back with a group of guys. He looked uncomfortable, almost like he didn't know anymore. He was really good looking though. Not breath taking like Edward had become but good looking none the less.

He was tall. Probably around 6'4", which compared to my 5'3" state, was gigantic. He had brown spikey hair and really tanned skin. It wasn't a native tan though, just a I've-been-out-in-the-sun-my-whole-life tan. He had pretty blue eyes; they were soft. Alice's voice broke my thoughts about him though.

"That guys totally staring at you." She said, motioning towards the guy I was just thinking about. Great now he totally knows I was staring too.

"Oh God." I said, hiding my face in my hair. Alice laughed.

"Bella, say something! He's hot." Alice whined. She waited until we were right next to them in line because of the curve and pushed me into him.

"Sorry." I mumbled, turning bright red. He looked down at me and smiled.

"Not a problem." I nearly melted when he spoke. He had an Australian accent. (**AN-only cause Ky is Australian =]) **God, that made him that much hotter.

"I haven't seen you around here before, are you new?" Alice interjected, probably trying to start conversation for us.

"Yeah. I just moved here from Australia." He said, in his sexy accent. I blushed again at the sound of his accent.

"Bella's new here too!" Alice said, suddenly leaving the conversation.

"Really?" He asked me.

"Well, sort of. I used to live here when I was little, then went to NY and now here I am." I said.

"Well aren't we lucky you came back now. Got a name, New York?" He asked.

"Bella Swan."

"Fitting. You are beautiful." He said, making me turn a whole nother shade of red. I heard Alice giggle in the background.

"You're just saying that cause you're going to be the new kid in school Monday." I said, playfully touching his arm.

"Maybe, maybe not. You'll just have to give me your number so you can find out some time." He said. I wasn't even sure if it made sense or not but regardless I wrote my number on his hand.

"I should go before my friend leaves without me. I'll see you at school Monday, Australia." I said, leaving the store, hoping Alice ordered me some ice cream. I walked out of the store and found Alice sitting at a table.

"You totally love him." She said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Alice! I just met him!" I said, pulling her up and towards the car.

"Please let me plan the wedding!" Alice said, humming the wedding march.

"Get in the car, Al." I replied. Sometimes the crazy pixie didn't know just when to stop. After a few minutes of silence I finally spoke again. "Think he'll call?"

"I KNEW IT! Bella this is great!" Alice said as she pulled me into the house. She threw our ice cream in the freezer and dragged me upstairs.

We spent about an hour talking about boys. We talked about everything from Jasper's and her first time to what to wear on a date. We laughed for that whole hour, suggesting what the worst case scenario could be on a date. Suddenly my iphone buzzed from across the room. We both made a dive for it, but I got to it first.

"Well who is it?" Alice asked, impatiently.

**To: Bella**

**From: 238 220 4950**

**So Bella, I was hoping you could give me the whole tour of the town sometime. It's Australia by the way.**

I could feel my blush growing as I read his text in my head. I suddenly realized I was smiling while reading it. Alice kept asking me who it was until I think she got the message. She screamed.

"What? What's wrong?" Edward said, running into the room throwing the door open. Behind him followed a very concerned looking Esme and Carlisle. Alice and I both looked up at them.

"Bella got a text from an Australian boy she met tonight!" Alice shrieked. I put a pillow over my head, wanting to die of embarrassment.

"Fuck Alice. I thought something was wrong." Edward said as he left her room.

"Edward! Watch your mouth!" Carlisle yelled after his son. "Well Bella, that's great and all, but Alice please keep the screaming to a minimum. Edward looked like he was going to have a heart attack."

"Sorry." We mumbled together as everyone left the room. When Esme was leaving she gave us a little thumbs up before shutting the door. This sent us into another round of uncontrollable giggles.

"Well respond already before he thinks you're ignoring him!" Alice nudged me. She was right.

**To: Australia **

**From: Bella**

**Well, I can tell you what I know of the town, but maybe we could learn it together? PS do you have a real name? Or am I just going to have to call your Australia**

**To: Bella**

**From: Australia**

**Lochie. And that sounds great. I'll come get you at like 3 tomorrow afternoon? Does that sound good?**

I texted him back quickly. I gave him my address and told him I would be ready by three. Alice at this point was dying. She was already digging through her closet looking for something for me to wear. I laid on her bed thinking about how great this was going to be.

"Here you can wear these! This will be absolutely perfect." Alice said, as she laid a bundle of clothing down on the bed. I pulled up a pair of skinny jeans and a blue tank top. The tank top was really cute. It had big white flowers and a black design all over it. She also picked out a pair of gold heels, claiming I needed the extra height.

We called it a night early, seeing as how Alice decided I needed my beauty sleep. Soon enough I heard the even breaths coming from Alice and looked over at the clock. It was 11. Every time I closed my eyes all I could see were the twins from the Shining.

I got up to go to the bathroom when I heard the most beautiful noise I think I have ever heard. It was a piano and it was soft. I followed my ear to the noise and opened the door a crack. I found Edward sitting at the piano bench, his back to me.

"I know you're standing there, Bella." He sighed.

"How'd you know it was me?" I asked, wondering how the hell he just did that.

"I just could. You can come in if you want." He said. I did just that and moved towards the piano bench.

"I couldn't sleep. I keep seeing the twins from the Shining." I whispered, sitting down next to him.

"Sucks." He simply said.

"I can go if you want."

"No its fine." He said, he then started playing again. I sat contently next to my old best friend listening to him stroke the ivory keys. After a few moments of silence I broke the quiet.

"Did you miss me?" I asked softly.

"Everyday." He replied just as soft. I rested my head onto of his shoulder as he continued to play.

"Then why didn't you keep in touch? Why didn't you try and keep me in your life?" I begged.

"I already told you. I didn't know how to do it without it hurting so badly. You know I wish I would have kept in contact but I was hurting."

"That's pretty selfish don't you think?" I asked, my tone turning icy. "I hurt pretty damn badly when I didn't get a charm for my birthday in 7th grade or even just a damn phone call, Edward."

"But you did get a charm." He said, picking up my wrist. "All of these, I got you all of these. I sent them to you. I had asked Renee not to tell you. I did send you charms. I still cared. I still do care." He said. I watched as a tear streamed down his face. I lifted my hand to my own cheek to find it just as wet.

"I miss you." I said, almost whispered.

"I miss you, too, Bells." He said, kissing the top of my head and I closed my eyes listening to him play. Suddenly the chords changed and he started to sing.

_"Good night my angel now its time to dream." _That was the last thing I heard before I drifted into a dreamless sleep. I felt two arms wrap around me and carry me back down the hallway. I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes but I felt a slight pressure on my forehead as Edward lowered his lips to my skin.

"Goodnight, Bells." He whispered. My heart swelled up as I finally felt like part of me was back.

* * *

**A/N- so explanation time. Ky (fiance) is Australian. I was letting his younger brother read the story the other day and he said he wanted to be in it. Hence new character Lochie. Anyways Hope you liked it. PS like 3/4 days til the movie! I cant wait. Ky, Lochie and I are going to the midnight premier. Much to their dislike might i add. Oh well. anyways review away. You guys were seriously amazing last time with the reviews. We got nearly 20. Lets do it again!! **


	6. Because We All Have A Green Monster

"Yet she was jealous, though she did not show it. For jealousy dislikes the world to know it." – Lord Byron

BellaPOV

The past few weeks had been great. Lochie and I were becoming great friends, always on the verge of being more. Edward and I however became a different story after our first encounter the night I slept over at Alice's. It was very hot and cold between us, mainly cold though. I had a feeling deep down that Lauren had a great deal to do with that.

I had filled that spot in my heart though with other things, such as hanging out with Alice and Rose. I had become really close with the two of them, considering them to be sisters. I had been welcomed into the Cullen's family again, with the exception of Edward and spent a decent amount of my time there.

Lochie was over at my house a number of days out of the week. Turns out he played hockey as well and was getting on Emmett's good side. I really liked him. He made me feel as if I were an actual person, not just a piece of property such as Danny had. We never spoke about what we were, rather just going with the flow and letting everything play out itself.

I heard my iphone ring from across the room, where I lay in my bed. I smiled at my new ringtone, Something Coming Over Me by OAR as opposed to my old one. The old one reminded me too much of my old life, which I was determined to leave behind in New York.

"Hello?" I answered, not bothering to look at the number.

"So what would be the greatest thing ever right now?" Alice asked, skipping the introductions.

"Hello to you too, Alice. And I don't know. But I'm sure you're going to tell me." I said, leaning back into my pillows.

"What about a trip to Florida for Thanksgiving with my family? Obviously Emmett and Charlie are invited as well, Rose and Jasper are going to." She shrieked into her phone.

"Seriously?" I nearly screamed back into my phone. That was exactly what I needed right now. I needed some sunshine.

"Oh yeah. Dad told me this morning at breakfast and told me to call you and invite you and everyone. It's going to be perfect!" Alice said. I was already up and out of bed, pulling on a pair of shorts, running out my door.

"That would be amazing. I'm sure it's okay with everyone here. You're coming over in a little bit right?" I asked.

"Yup. I'll be over in like half an hour. We need to pack!" She said, hanging up before I could say goodbye. People just completely disregarded greetings these days.

I was standing in front of Emmett's door now, wondering how big of a risk I was taking opening the door. I really wasn't prepared enough to see Rose or worse my brother naked.

"Emmett you better be clothed!" I shouted, before opening the door. I pushed the door completely open, with one hand covering my eyes. Suddenly I heard Rose's voice and was about to high tail it out of there.

"Wait, Bella. It's okay. We're fully clothed." She laughed, throwing the sheets back on the bed and sitting up. I slowly turned around, not believing her at first.

"I don't even want to know what goes on in here. How do you even get this past Charlie?" I asked looking around the room. Emmett was a slob.

"Dad knows, he was pissed at first but knew he couldn't stop it." Emmett said, groggily, rolling over so his back was to me. Rose got up and out of bed and excused herself to the bathroom. I went over to the bed and jumped on it.

"Hey Em, wanna go to Florida for Thanksgiving?" I said, jumping up and down. His eyes shot open and he looked at me like a kid getting a puppy.

"OBVIOUSLY SQUIRT!" He shouted, jumping on the bed with me. He had taken to calling me squirt, claiming that Bellbo was too outdated. We jumped up and down on his bed for a few minutes before Rose came back into his room and took in the scene.

"You two are going to break that bed. Then we'll all be in your bed, Bella." She laughed. We immediately stopped and sat down on the bed. "Now, what's all this about?"

"TURKEY DAY IN FLORIDA!!" Emmett said, getting up and jumping on the bed again.

"Oh." Rose said. You could tell her face fell as she realized these plans didn't involve her.

"Rose, you're coming too! So is Jasper and I think you're parents. Charlie's going too, and all the Cullens." I said.

"WAIT! Rosie's coming to Florida?" Emmett said, starring at Rose, like a piece of meat. I nodded and watched as Rose jumped onto the bed with Emmett and the two of them jumped up and down.

"Bella? Emmett? Charlie?" Alice called from downstairs. I went to the top of the stairs only to see Alice wandering around with 3 suitcases in her hands.

"What on earth are those for?" I asked, eyeing the bags nervously.

"Packing, obviously. We're leaving tomorrow at 8 pm." She said, climbing the stairs and heading towards my room. "Hey Em. Hey Rose."

"Alice! I can't pack in that short of time." I said, flopping down on my bed. I hated packing.

"Well, that's exactly why I'm here now, and I convinced Charlie to pull you out of school at one so we can finish." Alice said, throwing clothes onto my bed.

"Really we should have done this at my house. You are going to need all new clothes. We're going to Miami, Bella. You don't want to look like a grandma."

"Alice, my clothes are really not that bad." I said, knowing it was no use to try and defend myself. "Anyways why do I need to look sexy, it's not like I'm trying to impress anyone down there."

"You never know. Don't give me that tude. How's Lochie by the way?" Alice asked me, flopping down on my bed next to me.

"He's good." I said, smiling to myself.

"That's it? That's all I get? I'm hurt, Bella." She said, feigning hurt. I smacked her arm and we both started laughing.

"There's not much more. We're nothing official." I said, as soon as I said that though my stomach grumbled and I sighed.

"You haven't had breakfast today have you?" Alice asked me. She was still throwing piles and piles of clothes into my bags.

"Nope." I said.

We decided to go get breakfast at the diner down on Main Street. Emmett and Rose decided to come along too. So obviously Alice called and invited Jasper and told me to invite Lochie as well. Alice and I got into the truck and drove silently down to the diner.

"Hey baby girl." Lochie said, greeting us at the door wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I giggled at the nickname, we had been watching One Tree Hill one day when he started calling me that. He looked adorable again. He had on a pair of old gray sweats and a blue hockey shirt. His brown hair fell messily around his face. I brushed some hair out of his face before kissing his cheek.

"Hey yourself." I said, as we sat down at the table our friends were already sitting around.

"It's about time you guys sat down. I'm starving." Emmett said, rubbing his stomach.

"Emmett this is your second breakfast!" Rose exclaimed, swatting at his arm. "Seriously I don't want to have to stop to feed you every ten minutes in Florida."

"Florida?" Lochie asked, in his perfect Australian accent. He turned to look at me with his big baby blue eyes. He turned his head to the side, looking like a confused puppy.

"Alice's family invited my family to go to Florida for Thanksgiving with them this year." I said, looking at him. He smiled, but you could tell it was half hearted.

"That's cool, I wanted you to meet my family on Thanksgiving but you can meet them when you get home. When do you leave?" He asked, looking down and turning a slight red.

"Tomorrow night." I said softly. An uncomfortable silence followed. Lochie looked hurt, but not heartbroken. I softly touched his arm and he picked his head up and let his eyes meet mine. Suddenly the bells on the door opened announcing someone had just come in. Jasper saw them first, being on the only ones not blocked by the plant. His face fell a little.

"Hey guys." A velvety, smooth voice said, that I would know from anywhere. Edward.

"What a small world! Who knew you guys would be here!" A nasally voice followed Edwards. Lauren. Fuck. Lochie wrapped an arm around my chair and I moved closer to him, trying to hide my face in his neck.

"You guys know Lochie, right?" Emmett said. I could have killed him, he had just directed all attention down towards me and Lochie. Thanks bro.

"Hey mate." Lochie said, I could tell he was reaching out to shake hands with, or bump fists or whatever guys did with Edward.

"Hey man." Edward greeted back; you could tell from the change in voice he was tense. I pulled my head up from Lochie's neck and looked around the table. Lauren was staring at me and you could follow Edward's glare between me and Lochie.

"What are you doing hanging out with her?" Lauren asked, probably towards Lochie.

"I happen to love Bella's company. She's smart, funny, beautiful. Who wouldn't want to hang out with her?" Lochie said squeeze my shoulder. I felt myself naturally lean into him.

"Mind if we join you guys?" Edward asked Alice and Jasper. Not bothering to look at the rest of us.

"Sure." Jasper said, looking over to meet eyes with me. He gave me a little nod and I instantly felt better. He had that way about him. He was rapidly becoming one of my favorite people.

"Can I get you guys something to eat?" A waitress said, starring at all the men at the table. Rose, Alice and I all tensed, Lauren didn't even seem to notice.

"Can I have three blueberry pancakes and 3 scrambled eggs; a side of hash browns and some bacon, please. Oh and some chocolate milk." Emmett said. We all laughed as the poor girl scribbled down his order.

"I'll have the short stack. And cranberry juice." Rose said, politely, handing the girl her menu.

"Oh me too!" Alice said, repeating Rose.

"How about the Swiss Steak Omelet. And just some water." Jasper said, turning to me to take my menu.

"Chocolate chip pancakes. And some chocolate milk." I said. It was my favorite. I've gotten the exact same thing since I was 5.

"I'll have the Steak Omelet as well. Thank you." Lochie said, you could basically watch the girl swoon right there.

"I'll have chocolate chip pancakes as well. But some orange juice for me." Edward said, looking down at the menu.

"I'll have some water and biscuit basket." Lauren said, a bite to her tone. The waitress left to get our drinks. The silence overcame us again. Rose was the first to break it.

"Biscuits for breakfast? Isn't that a little gross?" Rose asked Lauren, sharply. You could practically hear the venom in her voice.

"I'm on a diet so I can fit into my bathing suit for Florida. Obviously." Lauren said, as if there was a giant sign hanging over our heads. I nearly choked on my water when she said that. Lochie patted my back and ran a hand through the bottom of my hair.

"You alright, baby girl?" He asked, concern full in his voice.

"I'll be right back." I said, excusing myself from the table of stares. I all but ran to the bathroom, hoping to make it there before I puked. Thankfully I did.

I sat on the bathroom floor, crying. I hated Lauren. She was easily weaseling her way into my family. She didn't deserve someone like Edward. She was this crazy bitch who just manipulated everyone. She ruins everything. I was looking forward to an old fashion vacation with my whole family, now the Queen Bitch herself forced herself into that.

I heard the bathroom door open and half expect it to be Alice and Rosalie. Yet when I looked under the door at the shoes I noticed two pairs of very large feet, one set in flip flops and one set in sneakers. What the fuck this was the girls bathroom.

"Squirt, I know you're in here." Emmett said, bending down to look in the stall.

"C'mon out, Bella." Jasper's voice followed Emmett's. I knew that it was going to be unavoidable to come out. Especially with the two of them on the other side.

"Let's go, Bella. We basically had to kill Alice and Rose just to let us come in and get you." Emmett said, receiving a slap on what I could imagine was the head from Jasper. I had to laugh. I slowly got up and unlocked the door, looking up at the two of them with my tear stained face.

"Aw, Bella, it won't be that bad. You'll have all of us, and Lauren will only have Edward. Esme and Carlisle don't even like her half as much as they like you. And my parents can't stand her already from the stories they've heard from Rose and I. You'll be fine." Jasper said, wrapping his arms around me. This probably would have looked like a romantic gesture but it felt like an older brother wrapping his arms around me.

"Anyways, Edward can barely look at Lauren when you're around. Think of how uncomfortable that's gonna make everyone." Emmett added, checking himself out in the mirror. "And I'm jacked, so if push comes to shove, I can always put the bitch in her place."

"Not helping, dumbass." Jasper said. He started humming softly. I didn't know that Jasper could sing. He started singing a soft song, which instantly calmed me down.

"_Breath in, breath out_

_Tell me all of your doubt_

_Everybody bleeds this way just the same_

_Breath in, breath out_

_Move on and break down_

_If everyone goes away I will stay_

_We push and pull and I fall down sometimes_

_And I'm not letting go_

_If you hold the other line_

_Cause there's a light in your eyes_

_Hold on and hold tight_

_From out of your sight_

_And everything keeps moving on_

_Hold on hold tight_

_Make it through another night_

_And every day there comes a song with the dawn_" Jasper sang quietly in my ear. I looked up at him and he loosened grip and kissed the top of my head. He was acting just like an overprotective brother would, if mine wasn't acting like a five year old making a soap mountain.

"Thanks guys." I said, looking in the mirror wiping away the mascara that ran down my face. Lochie came bursting through the door right then. He came in and scooped me up in his arms.

"Are you okay?" He asked, quietly.

"Yeah." I said, resting my head against his chest. Lochie pulled back and looked me straight in the eyes. He must have been convinced because he kissed my forehead and gave me one more hug.

"This is a ladies room, young men!" Some old lady shouted as she walked in. She was panicking and pressed up against the wall.

"Sorry lady, when duty calls." Emmett said, laughing as he walked out. Jasper followed in suit, using his southern charm to apologize to the woman. Lochie just wrapped an arm around me walked out with me.

"Bugly, you know throwing up won't make you any prettier." Lauren said, with a sickly sweet smile on her face. Edward just starred at Lauren and kept shoving his face with chocolate chip pancakes. I was about to spit something back at her, but Rose beat me to it.

"I swear to God Lauren, you try and mess with Bella one more time and I will personally see to it that not only does everyone in school know that both your boobs and nose are fake but that you will physically be torn from limb to limb. You don't mess with anyone in our family. Do I make myself clear?" Rose spat, lunging across the table to be right in Lauren's face. Lauren just nodded, tears brimming her eyes.

"Let's go Eddie. We have to pack anyways." Lauren said, grabbing Edward's arm and dragging him out of the diner. He threw a twenty on the table and gave everyone a sympathetic smile, not meeting my eyes once.

"I hate that dumb bitch." Alice said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Lochie was rubbing soothing circles on my back, while we all ate quietly.

"You guys will have fun in Florida. Call me if she tries anything. Got it, Bella?" Lochie said, kissing my temple. Sometimes he acted like such a boyfriend.

"Alright." I said, leaning into him. Lochie and I spent the rest of the day together walking around on Main Street, laughing and enjoying our company. Alice had promised to pack for me, not trusting what I would pack.

Our flight left at 8 tonight. Rose and Jasper had to take a later flight, their parents had to bail out last minute for work reasons and they were spending a few hours together before coming to Florida. Lauren unfortunately was coming with us. I sat between Alice and Emmett in our first class seats. Even with the extra room I felt like Emmett's muscles were encroaching on me.

"Em, seriously, you couldn't have laid off the weights just a little before this?" I said, shifting closer to Alice.

"No chance, squirt. Gotta look good in my suit." He said, flexing his arms a little. Lauren and Edward were in front of us and our parents filled in behind us. Lauren spent the entire time flirting with the guy who sat down in the empty seat next to her.

"Check out the slut. Already working it and we've barely left." Alice said, nodding her head towards Lauren. Edward must have heard because he turned around and gave us all a dirty look. We laughed hysterically. He was such a sucker.

"Lets sing our song!" Emmett suggested, almost bouncing up and down in his seat.

"Emmett I think we'll disturb everyone on the plane." I said, rolling my eyes and looking for my ipod.

"Oh cmon Bell. It'll be fun." Alice said, bouncing just like Emmett. I swear I was getting sick from the movement. Then it started too fast for me to stop.

"_Listen baby._

_Aint no mountain high_

_Ain't no valley low_

_Ain't no river wide enough, baby" _Emmett began. Oh God.

"_If you need me call me_

_No matter where you are_

_No matter how far _

_Just call my name_

_I'll be there in a hurry_

_You don't have to worry"_ Alice sang her part. Which meant all of us were supposed to sing now, then it was my turn. We had sung this song one morning on the way to school and always sang it now when we were together.

_"Cause baby_

_There aint no mountain high enough_

_Ain't no valley low enough_

_Ain't no river wide enough _

_To keep me from getting to you, babe"_ The two of them sang, getting me to quietly sing along with them. We all started laughing then it was my turn. I started out barely above a whisper.

"_Remember the day_

_I set you free_

_I told you _

_You could always count on me_

_From that day on I made a vow_

_I'll be there when you want me_

_Some way, some how." _I sang. By the end my voice was ringing throughout the entire first class cabin. Thankfully I had a decent voice, nothing to be embarrassed about. Yet I still turned deep red.

"_Cause baby _

_Ain't no mountain high enough" _Emmett sang.

"_Ain't no valley low enough" _Alice continued, trying to make her voice sound like Emmett's.

"_Ain't no river wide enough, to keep me from getting to you"_ I finished off the chorus.

"_No wind, no rain_

_My love is alive" _Emmett belted out, causing us to laugh. Everyone was looking at us. Including Edward's piercing green eyes.

"_Although we are miles apart _

_If you ever need a helping hand_

_I'll be there on the double_

_As fast as I can" _I sang, blushing another deep red. Edward's eyes focused on me. Lauren still hadn't noticed what was going on.

"_Don't you know that _

_There aint no mountain high enough _

_Ain't no valley low enough_

_Ain't no river wide enough_

_To keep me from getting to you." _Edward finished the song, shocking all of us. Everyone in the cabin started clapping as Alice, Emmett and I all started laughing.

My eyes didn't leave Edward's gaze for an immeasurable amount of time. Finally Lauren became needy again and pulled his attention back to her and her "problems". Meaning she was bored.

The rest of the flight was uneventful. Meaning there was now more songs. Rather I fell asleep on Emmett's shoulder while him and Alice watched the movie playing on the screens in front of us. We landed in Florida without a problem and got to the hotel with only a few people asking if Emmett was a weight lifter.

We checked in, finding that all the girls would be in one room and then boys in another. Sharing a room with Lauren was gonna be a problem. Rose and Jasper got there as well.

It was Thanksgiving around 11 and Rose and Alice were playing Bella Barbie. Lauren was laying on her cot, snoring.

"She sounds like Emmett." Rose said, laughing as she applied my eye shadow. She went for a natural look, it was really pretty I had to admit.

"I vote she sleeps on the balcony next. What's Edward even see in her?" Alice chimed in, putting curlers in my hair. Next she moved to the closet to get my dress.

"Al, that dress is amazing." I said, looking at the dress she had pulled out for me. It was blue and had sleeves down my elbow. There were brown and red paisley designs on the bottom hem, collar, and the ends of the sleeves. There were two beaded and feathered ties hanging off the center.

"Just wait til you see the shoes I picked out for you too." Alice said, now blow drying her own hair. Rose had finished my makeup and moved on to drying her hair as well. "There in the closets if you want to see them."

I walked over to the closet, still in my bathrobe and saw the boots sitting on the floor. They were brown suede with crisscrossing leather strings up the front. There was a layer of fringe along the top. They were perfect.

"Al, I love you." I shouted back into the bathroom.

"Swan, shut the fuck up. I'm trying to get my beauty sleep. Someone has to look pretty today. We need to be thankful for something." Lauren spat from her bed.

"Lauren, for your beauty sleep to be helpful you'd have to be in what they call a coma." I said, ignoring her bitchy comments. I pulled my dress on and my boots and went back into the bathroom.

"Bells you look fantastic." Rose cooed. Her hair was miraculously straight and up in a messy ponytail.

"I don't even want to know how you do that so fast." I said, looking at her beautiful hair. She laughed and then started taking out my curlers.

We were finally ready in an hour. Rose had on a similar bohemian style dress as mine. Hers was a sleeveless dress with a large pattern done in earth tones. With her messy blond hair it looked perfect. Alice had on a purple dress with flowers embroidered on it and black leggings.

The three of us walked down to dinner, laughing about leaving Lauren asleep on her cot. I took my seat at the table next with Emmett on my one side and Charlie on my other. Alice and Jasper sat across from me and Rose sat on the other side of Emmett. Carlisle sat at the head of the table and Esme sat next to Alice. Edward was down next to Jasper and there was an empty seat across from him for Lauren, who still hadn't shown up.

"We might as well start before it gets cold. You guys know how this goes. One thing you're thankful for." Carlisle said, looking at his watch. "I'll start. I'm thankful for us being able to spend this holiday together."

"I'm thankful for all the love around us." Esme said.

"I'm thankful for the opportunity to be here in Florida." Alice said. "I hear the shopping's great." She added quietly, causing everyone to chuckle.

"I'm thankful for Alice, for being my best friend, the love of my life." Jasper said, receiving an aw from everyone at the table and a kiss from Alice.

"I'm thankful for the _whole_ family finally be together again." Edward said, looking at me. I looked down at my plate.

"I'm thankful for the Cullen's inviting me to go on this trip with them." Rose said, smiling at Esme and Carlisle, who both nodded in appreciation.

"I'm thankful for Bella being back." Emmett said, slapping me on the back.

"Thanks Em." I said quietly before continuing. "I'm thankful for all of you guys being there for me when I needed it most."

"And I'm thankful for this meal." Charlie said, looking greedily at the stuffing. We all chuckled and were just about to start eating when Lauren came rushing in, looking disheveled. She was wearing this tacky yellow dress that hung off her shoulders, connecting at the neck by two gold chains. Her bright blue pumps clunked as she walked to her seat.

"Lauren, nice of you to join us. We were just saying what we're thankful for this year." Carlisle said, hastily putting his fork back down. Everyone followed putting their silver wear down, Emmett sighed loudly out of frustration.

"Um, I'm thankful that I found something to wear today." Lauren said, rolling her eyes. Obviously she wasn't taking our tradition seriously.

"Well, lets eat." Esme said, quickly. Her eyes were wide with shock as she looked hopelessly at her son. His eyes were downcast and his head was lightly shaking.

Dinner went perfectly, all of us were making small talk and laughing at old memories, well except for Lauren. She just sat at the end of the table laughing obnoxiously at parts of stories that weren't meant to be funny or making rude comments at something about me. I just ignored her and continued on talking to everyone else. Then it happened and I snapped.

Lauren reached across the table to grab some turkey. Her dress hung lower off her shoulders and gave everyone at the table a good look at the girls. Carlisle's and Charlie's eyes both bulged out of their heads, and both Emmett and Jasper let their jaws drop. I looked over at Esme who looked defeated, in every way possible. I could see the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Seriously Lauren? First you're late, then you completely make a mockery out of the Cullen's tradition and now you're so classless that your boobs are literally hanging out on the table. You've been nothing but disrespectful today to people who have gone out of their way to invite you on this trip so you felt more like part of the family. I think you owe everyone at this table an apology for ruining Thanksgiving." I spat forcefully pushing my chair back. I turned on my heel quickly and walked back outside.

I could hear my family calling after me, but eventually I heard Alice's voice saying that I needed my space. She promised Charlie that Jasper, Emmett, Rose and she would come find me once I cooled down. I was glad she stopped him, knowing Charlie he would have called the police chief in Miami to go looking for me.

I walked slowly, following the scent of the ocean. Eventually I hit the shoreline and went to sit down in the sand, not caring if my dress got all sandy. I could feel the anger pulsing through my blood. I took fistfuls of sand at a time and threw them into the air. This wasn't working so I got up and started walking.

I kicked sand up and around me and finally let out an exasperated scream. I hated Lauren. More than anything in this world I hated Lauren. And I hated Lauren because I hated what she did to Edward when she was around. I hated that she had taken my best friend and that she made him hate me too. I hated how he looked at her. It hit me like a ton of bricks.

I was jealous. I was really jealous of Edward and Lauren. Which was completely stupid because I had Lochie so I obviously didn't need a boyfriend figure in my life. I was jealous that she could go up to him and talk to him whenever she wanted. That she got to call him whenever she wanted. I was seriously jealous of Lauren.

I was shaken out of my daze when I heard my name being called. I picked me head up to see Rose running towards me, carrying her heels in her hand. She pulled out her phone and dialed it as she slowed to reach me.

"Hey Em. I found her….She was near the jetties to the left….Yeah she's fine from what I can tell…We'll meet you guys back at the hotel….Love you too." Rose said, hanging up her phone.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked, moving towards me slowly, as if I were going to run again. I nodded and hugged my arms to my chest. I was still seething with anger.

"We were worried, you know. Even Edward asked to get the text when we found you. He was gonna come out and help us look, but you know…" She trailed off.

"Lauren." I said, her name rolling coldly off my tongue. Rosalie nodded. I shook my head and the tears began to fall. Rose came over and quickly took me in her arms.

"It's okay, Bella. He'll come around eventually." Rose whispered into my ear. I merely kept crying on her shoulder, feeling utterly helpless. When the crying stopped Rose pulled back and giggled.

"Alice is gonna kill me for ruining my make up, isn't she?" I asked laughing along with her. Rose ran her fingers underneath my eyes a few time and fixed my hair.

"Good as new." Rose said, she linked arms with me as we walked back towards the hotel. Emmett was waiting for us down in the lobby when we returned.

"Squirt!" He called, running towards me. He picked me up and swung me around a few times. "If you didn't tell Lauren off like that, you would be dead meat right now. But I was glad you said something to her." He moved to Rose after he put me down and wrapped and arm around her.

We walked up to the room, laughing casually. None of us talking about what had happened. Emmett went to go tell the parents that I was back and Rose decided to go with him. I kept walking to the end of the hall were our room was. Edward suddenly appeared in front of me. His eyes were glued to me as a smile crept over his face. He nodded at me and then walked past to the ice machine.

I got back into the room only because Alice had left the door unlocked. Her and Jasper were sitting on the bed Alice and I shared.

"Hey Bells. Feeling better?" Alice said, detangling herself from Jasper's arms to come and give me a hug.

"Yeah, I needed to cool off. I heard what you said to Charlie, thanks." I said, pulling back. I waved at Jasper.

"Hey Jas." I said as I looked around the room. I noticed Lauren wasn't there. I sighed with relief and it was pretty obvious because Jasper commented.

"She's down at the pool." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Weird. Edward's up here. So basically she's down at the pool by herself." I said, flopping down on Rose's bed.

"He wanted to make sure you were okay." Alice said, softly. She grabbed a piece of folded paper off the nightstand. "This was brought up by room service for you."

I took the note out of her hand and read it, recognizing the perfect script. Here we go again.

Bells- Meet me tonight at 12 on the roof. Take the elevator to the 11th floor and there are stairs that you can take up to the roof. Don't tell anyone about it. Please I want to talk to you. I'm really sorry about dinner today. Lauren's pretty angry at me, just don't mention tonight to her. Please. –Edward

I reread the note, making sure that I wasn't misreading it. I looked up to see Alice and Jasper both staring at me, probably curious as to what it was. I crumbled up the little notepaper and shoved it in my bag.

"Different Bella." I said, shrugging my shoulders. They both bought it, or at least let me drop the subject. I excused myself to go and shower and put on a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top. We were calling it an early night tonight before hitting the beach tomorrow. I took the peace and quiet after my shower to call Lochie.

"Hello?" I heard his perfect accent pick up on the other line, he sounded as if he just woke up.

"Did I wake you?" I asked, feeling instantly bad.

"I fell asleep watching the game. It's fine though, my brother would have probably woken me up in a few minutes anyways." He laughed. I missed his laugh.

"I didn't know you had a brother." I said, moving out to the balcony, wrapping myself in a blanket and sitting down in the chair.

"Two actually. Both older. They're twins. Peter and Garret. They're freshman in college." He said. "How's everything in Florida. You sound upset."

"Lauren was just being a complete ass at dinner today." I said, shaking my head. I saw Lauren down at the pool from up on the balcony. She was splashing around with two guys who weren't Edward.

"Baby girl, you there?" Lochie's voice brought me back.

"Yeah sorry. I was just watching these people acting like idiots in the pool." I said, shaking me head.

"Anyways, like I was saying, just ignore her. You just have a couple more days to enjoy Florida. Don't let her get to you." He said.

"I guess you're right." I said. "I miss you."

"I miss you too." He said, his voice dropping a little. "Hey I've got an idea. How about we do this right. Would you want to be my girlfriend?" At his words I felt myself lift up. I couldn't help but the goofy grin spread across my face.

"I'd love to be your girlfriend." I said in a matter of factly tone. I heard him laugh on the other line and I giggled in response. Then I heard a crash.

"Get off of me Peter. Garret put my phone down." I heard Lochie shout on the other end.

"Bella, Lochie's a little unavailable at the moment. He'll have to call you back." Another Australian accent told me on the phone. Then the line went dead. I sat on the balcony laughing, imagining Lochie being attacked by his older brothers. That's when I saw it.

Lauren was still with one the same guys she was splashing around with before but now the splashing had stopped. She was wrapped up in one of their arms and slowly but surly her lips found his. I stood there frozen, unsure what to do. I flung myself back into the room ready to puke.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Alice asked, moving away from the now sleeping Jasper. I sat down in the arm chair, my eyes still wide with horror. Rose and Emmett both sat up to look at me as well.

"N-nothing I almost just fell off the balcony that's all." I said, looking at the clock. It was 11. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. I just shrugged it off and watched Little Miss Sunshine until it was midnight.

Everyone was back in their own rooms, asleep. Even the dirty little whore had come back. I tiptoed out of the room, making sure that my room key was in my back pocket. I made my way up to the roof, tripping over my own feet only a few times.

"Edward." I hissed out in the darkness, a little creeped out.

"Hey Bells." Edward said, his voice cutting through the darkness. He was holding a flashlight. He led us over to the lit side of the rooftop, where you could see the beach and the nightlife.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." Edward began but I cut him off.

"I can't do this Edward. I can't be the girl that you send notes to saying to come meet you in the middle of the night. People are going to get the wrong impression. I'm Lochie's girlfriend now. People can't think that." I said.

"That's not where this is going. I love Laur-" Edward began but again I cut him off.

"And secondly, this isn't fair. We're not going to be part-time friends. Its either all of me or none of me Edward. I can't be both. I'm sorry. I can't be here." I said, tears filling me eyes.

I ran back down the stairs, taking the first elevator back down to my floor. I tried to sneak quietly back into the room without waking up Alice. Of course that failed miserably. She saw me crying against the doorframe.

"Bells? What's wrong?" She said, getting out of bed, rushing over to me.

"She's cheating on him." I breathed out.

**AN- I am so sorry about the wait. The plans for the wedding just suddenly consumed my life along with midterms. And my dress had to get refit because the woman messed up the measurements so i had to rush down to San Diego to get refitted and so i made the chapter extra long. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Anyways hope you loved this chapter! It was fun to write. Wanna find out whats going on between Lauren and Edward? Review away (PS if any of you read my other story, i am finishing up the epilouge now. I wanted it to be the perfect ending for Signature of the Divine and had a lot of trouble writing something i liked. but its almost done now so stay tuned!)**

**reviewwwwwwwww =] love n**


	7. Because Everythings Better In Costume

"The truth is hard. The truth is awkward and very often the truth hurts. I mean, people think they want the truth. But do they really?" – Greys Anatomy

We got home on December 1. I still couldn't bring myself to tell Alice who I was talking about that night I went to meet Edward. I had kept it to myself, locked up in a place far away from reality. Along with my friendship with Edward it remained tucked away in a jumbled place in my mind.

The annual winter formal was coming up. Had it not been for Alice I probably wouldn't have known about it. It was the event for every girl to wear her dream dress and a mask and become anyone she wanted to be. I wasn't all that excited for it, hell if I had my way I wouldn't be going.

I had still been ignoring my old life. Holly stopped calling after a while, probably moving on to find a new best friend as I had wished for her. Danny kept calling, pretty persistently though. I would merely erase everything that had to do with him. I had new things to worry about though. Such as if Rose's birthday present to Emmett, which happened to be a little chocolate lab puppy was chewing through my stuff.

Suddenly a tap outside my car window brought me crashing back to reality. I picked me head up from the steering wheel and looked to see Jasper standing outside my window with starbucks in hand.

"Jaz, don't you have practice?" I asked rolling down my window.

"Nah, not today. Emmett just went to the rink this morning to skate around. We have a game after school." He said, motioning to his shirt and tie. It was a game day requirement to wear it. "I brought you some coffee." He said holding up the coffees in his hand.

"Thanks Jaz." I said, rolling up my window and climbing out of my truck. I grabbed my phone and shoved it in my pocket before locking my car. I had forgotten a jacket again today, so I shivered under my cream colored sweater.

"Seriously Bells, start bringing a jacket." Jasper said. I never flinched away when he called me Bells. Everyone else though had resorted to calling me Bell.

I merely laughed as we walked towards math, talking about how much nicer it was in Florida than here. I had yet to see Lochie, and was looking out for him in the hallway. I suddenly felt two arms wrap around me from behind. Instantly my whole body was warm and I felt the smile grow across my face.

"Gray, get off Bella before she thinks you're Lochie and does something weird." Jasper said, laughing. I turned around to see Gray's 6'4" stature towering over me, laughing as well. I slapped his arm, knowing how matter how hard I hit him it wouldn't hurt.

"You suck." I said, turning around and stalking off to math. I was about to reach for the door knob when two arms again wrapped themselves around my waist. This time, a kiss behind my ear followed the embrace.

"Seriously Gray, I will have Em kick your ass." I said turning around about to scream at him when I was greeted with my favorite blue eyes. They weren't as bright as Edward's green eyes but they were unique in their own way.

"Lochie!" I said, turning in his embrace only to wrap my arms around his neck. I felt him lift me off the ground and playfully giggled when he put me back down.

"I missed my girl." He said, his amazing accent filling my heart with happiness. I was his girl, it was official now. He slowly kissed my lips, softly, but conveying enough feeling to make me his. "But what's this about Gray?"

"Nothing. Gray was just being Gray this morning. I missed you too though." I said, resting my head on his chest as his arms tightened around my back.

"Aren't you freezing, baby girl? Where's your coat?" He asked, rubbing his hands up and down my back. I sighed against his chest.

"I forgot it. I was in a rush this morning." I admitted, my cheeks turning red. Lochie let go of me and I instantly missed his touch. He shrugged off his varsity jacket and handed it to me.

"We just got them this morning. Its nice and warm." He said, straightening out his tie.

"Lachlan! You're going to freeze. I'm not taking this and being responsible for you having pnemonia by the end of the day." I scolded, using his real name.

"Please? I have another jacket in my car. I, unlike some people, brought one to school today unaware I would be getting this one." He said as I pulled the jacket around my body. He was right, it was insanely warm.

"Thank you." I whispered, kissing his lips softly again. I wanted to stay there all day and face Edward or Lauren today.

"I have to run to class, but I'll see you later, baby girl. Are you coming to my game?" He asked, hope shining through his eyes.

"I think Charlie and I may stop by for a bit." I said, looking up at him. He bent down and kissed my forehead before taking off running towards the gym. I laughed and made my way into math. I took my seat in the back by Jasper.

"What the- when did we get those?" Gray asked, looking at Lochie's jacket. "That's totally not fair that you already have one and I don't." He complained. Jasper and I laughed at his oblivious confusion only to be interrupted.

"Bugly, you're looking horrendous this morning. I guess that's not something out of the ordinary but you couldn't spare us the sight?" Lauren's nasally voice filled the room. I turned around to see Lauren flanked by Jessica and Taylor smirking at me.

"Again Lauren, I wish I could be as clever as you." I said rolling my eyes and turning my attention back to Jasper and Gray. I felt a hand grab my shoulder, trying to get my attention again.

"Don't turn away from me Swan. I wasn't done telling you how ugly you are." Lauren snickered, high fiving Jessica and Taylor.

"Hey Lauren, why does Bella have a varsity jacket and you don't? Like why aren't you wearing Edward's?" Jessica said, cocking her head to the side like Emmett's new puppy does.

"Obviously he's waiting to give it to me during lunch, Jessica." Lauren spat at her "best friend". I mentally cringed at the idea of Edward giving such a trashy girl something so special to him. Every since he was little he dreamt of having a varsity jacket.

"Lauren, take your hand off of me and seriously just go to the other side of the room. Honestly, your voice is giving me a headache. So if you're gonna fight over pointless stuff, can you take it else where?" I asked, putting my head down, letting Lochie's cologne take over my thoughts. I thought about how much he had to have been wearing this morning for it to already wear off and began to chuckle.

Lauren and her army of idiots left and Jasper rubbed a soothing hand along my back. I instantly felt better at his touch, and lifted my head up to greet him with a smile. I sat up and continued quietly talking with Gray and Jasper about Emmett's puppy, which he named Puck.

Class continued on as usual. I didn't understand any of it, Gray slept and Jasper sat there looking out the window with a bored expression plastered on his face. The end of the period soon came and I trudged off to the rest of my classes. Lunch was the only real highlight of my day.

"Bell, have you been listening to me this whole time?" Alice asked, as we wove through the crowded hallway like fish swimming upstream. I merely nodded and kept thinking about how horrible it would be to see Lauren and Edward together. It happened quickly, but not fast enough that I had any recognition of what was going on.

She saw Lauren's dry, boney hand land smack across Edward's face. A loud crack echoed across the cafeteria. Alice grabbed my arm and dragged me quickly to where Edward was standing, now rubbing his cheek. Lauren had stormed away and Jessica and Taylor quickly followed.

"Edward, what the hell was that about?" Alice exclaimed as we finally reached him. I awkwardly put me stuff done by Lochie's backpack at the table and went to stand by Alice.

"I think I deserved that." Edward had said in a defeated tone. You could see the hurt in his eyes.

"I'm sure you didn't. Honestly Edward, what's going on with you lately?" Alice asked, I felt my heart sink. He was just hit by a girl who was cheating on him and I couldn't find the guts to tell him.

"I didn't give her my jacket. She got pissed that Bella has Lochie's and she hit me." Edward said, casting his eyes towards me.

"I'm sorry." I said weakly, moving back towards the table.

"It's not your fault." Edward said, barely whispering. "I'm uh- I'm gonna go find Lauren and figure this all out."

"Bad idea, bro." Jasper said, coming from behind Alice, wrapping his arms around the pixies small frame.

Edward didn't respond he just grabbed his backpack and left. He looked like a robot, no strong emotions, just actions. Alice looked like she could murder someone, and I would guess it was towards Lauren.

"Dumb bitch." Alice hissed under her breath before sitting down at the table next to me, Jasper on her other side. Lochie finally came and sat down next to me and kissed my cheek.

"What's all the commotion about?" He asked, his big eyes shining into mine.

"Lauren hit Edward." I said, grabbing hold of his hand in mine. He smiled and I gave a weak attempt to smile back. I felt like I was holding the weight of the world on my shoulders.

"She sucks." He said, nuzzling his nose into my neck. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his hot breath. "I have a surprise for you out in the parking lot."

"You know I hate surprises." I whined as he trailed small kisses up to my ear.

"You'll like this." Lochie breathed into my ear. I felt a shiver go down my spine and laughed. The rest of lunch continued, with no sign of Edward or Lauren.

The afternoon dragged on. Emmett had left early to go and check on Puck. Charlie still had no idea we had a dog. I was headed home quickly to change and meet up with Charlie before heading over to the game.

I climbed into my truck and was about to pull out when I took a deep breath. I smelt flowers. And this morning my car had smelt of hockey gear. That wasn't right. I looked over and sitting next to me was a big bouquet of wild flowers. The note attached to it surprise.

I opened the note, already knowing this was Lochie's doing. The inside note was one of the sweetest things I've ever gotten.

_Baby Girl-_

_I looked for flowers that reminded me of you for hours, and these are what I _

_came upon. They're beautiful and perfect, just as you are. Get out of your car _

_and look at the back because I'm sure you walked right past it. _

_-L_

I nearly jumped out of my car and looked at the back panel. Written in white car chalk were the words, "WINTER FORMAL?" I started laughing as I took a pix message and sent it to Alice. She would get a kick out of this.

I realized I was running late and called to tell Charlie I would just meet him at the rink. He agreed saying he was already half way there, coming home from work. I drove quickly, hoping to catch Lochie before he went out on the ice. Unfortunately I wasn't that lucky.

"Bella! Over here!" I heard Alice call me. I looked up to see her, my dad, and her dad sitting in the stands with an empty seat next to Alice. I took my place between Alice and Charlie just as the puck dropped.

I watched and cheered as the puck moved between teams, but eventually got stopped by Will in our goal. It was 3-2 the other team when the second buzzer rang. I was talking to Charlie about the weird smells coming from Emmett's room when Alice nudged me.

"Check out the ice." She said, nodding her head towards the ice. I saw Lochie standing there looking up at me with a big goofy grin on his face. He raised his eyebrows and I gave him a thumbs up and nodded my head yes. His smile grew even bigger if possible and he skated back over to the bench.

I noticed Edward look up a few times and his eyes would travel to where Lauren stood, clad in his jacket and he would look miserable. I string in my heart would be pulled and I felt myself crumble. I couldn't stand to see his green eyes hurt. I wanted to hold onto him and tell him it was going to be alright. I wanted to be the girl wrapped up in his hockey jacket, just as our mothers had planned.

I shook my head, thinking to myself that these thoughts weren't okay. I had a boyfriend, who treated me well and I couldn't be having thoughts about Edward. I blinked hard a few times trying to get the image out of me in his jacket out of my head. I couldn't be having these crazy feelings. That wasn't okay.

By the time I looked up again the game was over and there were only a few of us sitting in the stands.

"Woah, what was the score?" I asked Charlie, looking around.

"6-4, us. Where have you been, Bella?" Charlie asked, looking at me like I was mental. I was beginning to think I was though.

"Off in lala land like usual." Alice chirped in. "Bell- Jazzy, Emmett, Rose and I are going out for pizza, do you and Lochie want to go? Then we can go look at dresses afterwards."

"Sure sounds good. Are you gonna be alright on your own tonight, Dad?" I said, turning to Charlie.

"I was headed down to Billy's tonight anyways. Figured you would end up doing something with that boy." Charlie said, getting up to leave. We said our goodbyes and I promised to be home at a reasonable hour and would tell Emmett the same.

"I'll meet you guys there. I need to talk to Lochie." I said, excusing myself down to the locker room. I stood patiently, saying hello to the passing players as the exited the locker room.

"Good game, Eddie." I said softly, to make sure no one would hear me as Edward walked past me. He turned around and had his crooked grin plastered on his face. I felt my pulse quicken and looked down at the ground.

"Thanks, Bells." He said before quickly disappearing behind the doors to the parking lot. I stood there for another few minutes before Lochie finally came bursting out of the doors.

"Hey! There's my girl!" Lochie said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. He kissed my temple and I relaxed into his arms. "Did you get my gifts?"

"Yes, and of course I'll go with you." I said, playfully hitting his stomach. "You're crazy to think I wouldn't go with you."

"I just wanted to make sure I do everything right." Lochie said. "What do you want to do now, baby girl?"  
"Alice invited us to hang out with her, Jasper, Em and Rose. Just getting some pizza and then I'm supposed to go and get a dress with her and Rose." I said, helping him put the hockey gear in the back of my car. "How'd you get here before anyways?"

"Gray brought me." He shrugged. "My parents took my car for a few days to go Port Angeles."

"Gotcha. Are you ready to go to the mall now? Or do you want to stop off at home?" I asked.

"I'm good, I'll just grab my hoodie from my bag." He replied, taking my hand in his as we drove towards the mall. We walked silently through the mall, our hands securely attached.

I let my mind wander back to Edward and his gorgeous green eyes. Wait, honestly did I just call his eyes gorgeous? What the hell is wrong with me? I have this perfectly good guy next to me and all I can think about is my ex-best friend.

"There you guys are!" Alice shouted, drawing my attention back to my surroundings. "Geez, you guys took forever."

"Jas, didn't I leave the locker room before you?" Lochie asked, looking over at Jasper who was laughing.

"I take it you've never been in a car with Alice, man." Jasper said, grabbing another slice of pizza.

"We can't all drive like a bat out of hell, Ali." I said, taking a seat in between Lochie and Emmett. Everyone laughed. Dinner continued without any major interruptions.

"Alright Emmett, take Jasper and Lachlan over here home and we're going shopping for our dresses." Alice said, shooing the guys from the table.

We said our goodbyes to the boys. Lochie gave me a sweet kiss before whispering in my ear that he would come over to watch a movie tonight. Alice and Rose cooed as I said goodbye to him, forcing me to turn a brilliant shade of red.

"Ali, how painful is this gonna be?" I asked turning to her and Rose, who linked arms with me on either side, as if they were dragging me.

"Depends if you cooperate, darling Bella." Alice said, giggling to herself. They dragged me into the first store. I was silently praying it would be the only store we needed. That was so doubtful though.

"Oh my god. Bella come look at this." I heard Rose scream from across the store. I walked over to where Rose was and felt my jaw hit the floor.

"Its beautiful." I said, gasping. "Alice! Get your little butt over here."

"What?" Alice said, coming around from a rack of dresses. She stopped dead in her tracks and dropped the other dresses in her hands. "Well that was easy."

It was the day of winter formal and I had been sitting in Alice's death trap chair, as I like to call it, for the past 2 hours. My hair was being pulled in every which direction to the point where I could barely think straight.

"Okay, leave the curlers in and go put your dress on while they sit." Rose instructed as Alice finished the last touches on my makeup. They already had their hair done this morning and were putting their dresses on as well.

My dress was perfect. It was strapless and baby blue. There was a full skirt, yet I didn't look too puffy. There were golf flowers placed in patterned lines around the skirt with delicate vines connecting them. I had on a pair of simple gold heels, and a double strand of choker pearls around my neck. My mask was simply, which I was thankful for. It was gold with a few swirls that only covered my eyes.

Alice's dress was also very beautiful. It was deep purple and tiered off at the bottom. There was a small brooch on her left hip where the fabric synched together. With her dark spikey hair the dress looked extremely sophisticated. Her mask was a little more extreme than mine. While it was still the same size, hers had a large feather and flower on the right side, all done in purple as well.

Rosalie looked stunning though. She was wearing a red dress that had one shoulder and a big bow right on her collarbone. There were a few rhinestones leading down to her left waist where there was another bow and some more rhinestones. It let out into a full skirt that trailed across the floor. Her mask, as in Rose fashion was over the top. There were red flowers and gems flying everywhere. Somehow she pulled off the look, still looked drop dead gorgeous.

We got whisked away by our men soon enough and were headed over to the formal in no time. Lochie and I matched, he was wearing all black with gold accents and a gold mask as well. We danced for a while until Alice decided it was time to start dancing with other people. I got Jasper first.

"Well hello, Bella." Jasper said, as we began dancing.

"Isn't the whole point of this thing to be someone you're not?" I mocked, feigning hurt that he knew it was me.

"You can be whoever you like any day. You don't need some stupid dance to do it." He said, looking deep at me.

"You sound like a fortune cookie." I said, snickering at him. "And don't let Ali hear you call this thing stupid, you'll find single life very lonely."

He pinched me as I said that and we laughed as we finished our song. I was standing over checking my phone when someone tapped my shoulder.

"I don't think I've danced with you yet." The mysterious man said. He looked absolutely dashing.

"Well you could change that, I presume." I said, putting my phone away, following him out to the dance floor. I saw Lochie dancing with this girl Angela from my math class and smiled.

"So, do you have a name?" He asked.

"Isn't that the point, to be someone else for an evening?" I said again, looking up at his sparkling eyes. They looked so familiar. He laughed at my response. "Something funny?"

"No, not at all, sounds like someone I used to know would say." He said, chuckling to himself.

"You sound like you miss this person." I said, I felt bad for this person, because I had lost Edward as well.

"Very much. She was a good person." He said, looking down at his feet as we whirled away on the dance floor.

"Tell me about her." I said looking up at him.

"She was amazing. She has this smile that, I can't even explain it. She's absolutely breath taking. She used to be my best friend, we did everything together. But the best part about her was her blush, it was deep red, even when we were little. I would say things just so I could see her blush. Sad part is, I think I loved her. And I let her walk right out of my life." He said, I could see the hurt in his eyes as he looked down at me. Then it hit me. It was Edward. It was _my _Edward that I had been dancing with.

"I'm sorry." I said, as I detangled myself from his arms, rushing outside to where the garden was. I sat down on the bench and took a deep breath. He had just admitted to loving me at one point. Edward Cullen have loved me. And I think I may have loved him too.

"Excuse me. Did I say something to offend you?" Edward asked, coming around a corner. I took a deep breath before I looked up again, thankful I had kept my mask on.

"Not at all, I just needed some air." I lied. "So this girl, do you talk to her anymore?" I asked, keeping up my charade.

"No. Sometimes I wish I did. I miss her warmth, and compassion. She would always know what to do or what to say to make things better. It just hurt so much when she left. But now with my girlfriend, it's hard because I want someone to talk to like her, but I doubt she would listen to me now. I've been nothing but a jerk to her." Edward said, putting his head in his hands. I rested my hand on his back, trying to soothe him.

"I'm sure she would if you tried. It sounds like you guys have a long, twisted path. Maybe she needs you just as much as you need her." I said, softly, my voice barely reaching speaking level.

"You remind me of her. Your compassion, even your touch, it all reminds me very much of her. I wish you would tell me your name." Edward said, looking up from his hands.

"It wouldn't do you any good to know my name at this point. I should get back inside though." I said, standing up and straightening out my dress.

"Well, thank you for the dance." Edward said, he remained seated though.

"You're quiet welcome. Oh and Edward. I bet you she misses you just as much as you miss her." And with that I disappeared back inside.

**A/N-- I am so sorry for the long wait. Kyle and I flew to Australia the day after Christmas to see his family. Talk about a massive flight. Especially with a 17 year old boy, the real Lochie, complaining about everything possible. Anyways I hope you guys aren't too disappointed with me for the wait. I am really sorry. Anyways review please!! you guys have been great with the reviews! and i hope you all loved the ending to SOTD I know i did! Review! love n**


	8. Because It's Haunting For A Reason

(A/N - THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS BELLAS SECRET....I marked it in the story if you don't want to read it, i'll include a summary at the end, read around the tabs that say start and end.)

Edward POV

"I'm scared as hell. It's about time that I tell you all the things that you should know. All the things I'm too scared to show." - Cauterize

"Alright, blue line shift on." I commanded from center ice. Emmett had to take practice off this morning so I was running the show. He said something about Bella needing to talk to him about something in New York. Apparently there was food promised and Emmett couldn't refuse his baby sister.

But than again who could. She had those amazing big brown eyes that you honestly swam in. They began to glow again as well as mine had. We had slowly started to rebuild our friendship, starting a fire deep inside my heart. I was about to get my Bella back.

"C'mon man, we've been running this drill for an hour." Kevin called from the end line.

"And we're not stopping til we get it right. Do you really want to lose Thursday?" I asked. I wasn't trying to be a hardass, I knew the boys could get it though if they really pushed for it.

We practiced a few more drills, making sure everything was crisp and solid for our big game. If we lost Thursday, we were almost guaranteed out of the play offs. I let everyone else shower before, taking last shift.

"What's eating away at you, bro?" Jasper asked, sitting in Emmett's seat in the captain's area. I looked up from my hands.

"Nothing, Emmett just seemed really worried about whatever Bella had to tell him this morning. Apparently she's been getting all sorts phone calls from New York that she refuses to take." I said quietly, making sure none of the other guys heard me. I especially didn't want Lochie to hear me.

"I'm sure its nothing, Ed. Don't let it nag you. If it's something huge, she'll tell us on her own time. We're her best friends, man. Just tough it out." Jasper said, clapping his hand on my shoulder. "Until then, I suggest you shower. You smell like shit."

I chuckled and walked over to the shower area with my towel in hand. The warm water felt good across my shoulders. I let myself get lost in the feeling, which was now unknotting my tense muscles.

"Yo Ed, doing anything hot with Lauren before the big game?" Henry asked from the other shower.

"Don't know man." I replied honestly. I would have to see if she wanted to go to dinner or something with me. Who knew with that girl though, she was always busy these days.

**To: Edward**

**From: Emmett**

**Bro, tell the team to go straight to the hockey closet when you get to school. It's an emergency. **

I felt my hands start to shake as I thought about his conversation this morning. I threw on my sweat pants and stood up on the bench.

"Listen up. Emmett said to go straight to the closet when we get to school. It's an emergency. Anyone who doesn't go there will have hell to pay." I shouted over everyone's side conversations. Suddenly the locker room was silent. "Don't ask me what it's about but apparently its important."

I put my headphones on and zoned out waiting anxiously to arrive at school. Every scenario ran through me head about Bella. I pictured her pink cheeks streaked with tears and felt my heart shatter. Her pouty lips were probably pulled down in a frown and every possibly way to make her smile danced through my thoughts.

After what felt like forever the bus pulled up to school and I stormed off. I grabbed my gear and made my way to the closet.

"Em, what's going on?" I asked, frantically shoving my stuff in the corner.

"Calm down, Eddie, I'll tell you when everyone gets here." Emmett said and I rested up against a wall while we silently waited for everyone else. As soon as they all got there Emmett cleared his throat.

"As you all know, I wasn't at practice this morning because my baby sister needed me. I need you guys to help me out, because unlike I wish, I can't be everywhere. I need you guys to keep an eye out for her. She told me some really disturbing news this morning and I really don't want anything happening to her. So please. if you could all just make sure she's not completely alone, it would be really appreciated." Emmett said. He just got up and left after he spoke, leaving us all shell shocked.

"What the hell was that all about?" Gray was the first to break the silence. A whole bunch of questions followed in a terribly disorganized manner. I stood up on the box Emmett had been standing on.

"Alright go to class." I said, kicking everyone out of the closet. I noticed that Lochie hadn't left and was being unusually quiet.

"Man, go to class. She'll be fine. She has all of us." I said, as I picked up my backpack to go to English.

"Why wouldn't she tell me? Why did she keep this a secret from me?" He asked, looking extremely pathetic.

"That's not important anymore. The only thing that should be going through your head right now is if Bella's okay or not. Not whether she told you specifically. That is no longer important." I snapped as I stormed out of the closet.

Sure Lochie was a nice guy and I'm sure he treated Bella with all sorts of respect and crap but something about him was off to me. I didn't like seeing his hands all over my best friend. I didn't like the thought of him kissing her. I just didn't like it.

"Hey Eddie!" Lauren cooed as I walked through the hallway. She latched on to my hand and kept rambling about her day so far, which had only been about 3 hours long.

"Uh- I need to go check up on something, Laur. I'll see you at lunch?" I said, bending down to kiss her cheek before she ran off. As soon as she was out of eye sight and turned down the math wing and looked for her.

I saw Bella out of the corner of my eye. She was walking with some girl, Angela I think her name was. My fears were confirmed when I saw her cheeks stained with tears and her eyes downcast and gloomy. I willed myself to go to her and hug her but I couldn't move my legs. She looked up and caught my eye and gave me a small smile and nod, before turning into class. I knew Jasper was in that class so I wouldn't have to worry.

The bell rang and I ran back to English. The rest of my day passed swiftly. I was swimming in my thoughts though and barely retained anything taught to me toady. Lunch was the only part of my day where I truly focused, only because I was trying so hard to read Bella that I gave myself a headache.

I was walking back to my car when I noticed something was off. Lauren wasn't waiting for me to drive her home. I went back into the school to look and see if she was at my locker. When she wasn't there I began to panic. First Bella, now Lauren I was going to go grey within a matter of months at this rate.

I got in my car and sped off to her house to make sure she was okay. I pulled into her driveway and practically jumped out of my car when I noticed the front door was wide open.

"LAUREN!" I shouted from the front hallway. "HELLO?" I called out again after no answer. I heard music playing from upstairs and followed the sound. I walked to the end of the hallway where Lauren's room was and slowly pushed open the door.

I nearly puked. Lauren was on her knees in front of Todd, this greasy senior. I grabbed my varsity jacket off her desk chair and turned around.

"Lauren, it's done. For good this time." I said as I slammed the door shut and ran out of the house. I got in my car and just started to drive. I didn't know where I was going and hell, I really didn't care.

I felt dirty all of a sudden. I felt like I had kissed her and truly cared about her and then to see what she was actually doing. I was fuming. I couldn't have been angrier. I suddenly realized where I was. Outside the rink. I grabbed my skates and stick, slamming every door in my path.

"Vinny, which rink is open?" I asked the kid at the front desk.

"3, I think there's only one other person on the ice." He said, looking at his sheet of paper. "Want me to sign you in for it?"

"Yeah." I said, walking towards the ice. I saw the other person on the end of the ice shooting around and figured we wouldn't bother each other. I laced up my skates pulling tighter than necessary, just needing to get some of my pain out.

I watched the other person shoot and made a mental note not to piss whoever it was off. Their shot was insane. Suddenly I heard the phone next to me ring over the music and I tried to ignore it. As soon as the ringing stopped it started again and I figured it was something important.

"Bro, your phone's ringing." I said, skating onto the ice. "Bro?" I asked again. Suddenly the person was done on their back in a swift movement. "Whoa, are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you."

"Yeah, I was just startled, that's all." A girls voice. I turned so I was facing her.

"Bella?" I asked, putting my hand out to help her up.

"Edward? What are you doing here? Did Emmett put you up to this?" Bella asked, grasping my hand.

"No." I said, shortly, remembering my true reason for coming here.

"Well, that's a relief. Emmett's had the whole team following me today. I appreciate it, but really I just need to breath. You know?" She said, spinning around on her skates.

"Yeah, just needed to clear my head." I said, looking down at the ground.

"Won't Lauren be mad you're not hanging out with her?" Bella asked, nudging my shoulder with hers. That's what we did these days, we had witty banter that truly meant more than sounded.

"That's why I'm here." I said, slowly looking up. "I just found her in a very ungirlfriend-like position with Todd." I felt my voice crack as I finally said it out loud. "It's over between us."

"Edward, I had no idea. I'm so sorry." Bella said, wrapping her arms around me. I inhaled her scent and felt at home. But Bella had a boyfriend and I needed to respect that. I pulled away and shrugged.

"I guess, I wont be getting slapped anymore at lunch." I said, trying to make a joke but still feeling the stinging pain of betrayal in my heart. I grabbed a puck from her collection shot it with all my might towards the end of the rink.

I started to skate to the other end when I heard Bells call out from her side.

**(THIS IS WHERE THE SECRET STARTS)**

"His name was Danny." She started. "I thought he was the one. I thought he was perfect. I thought I loved him." I turned around to see her sitting in the middle of the ice, staring at her feet.

I moved to sit down next to her, but then I had a better idea. I pulled her up and towards the bench, so we wouldn't be soaked when we stood up.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I said, making sure she was okay with this.

"No it's okay. He was something. He used to pull me around a lot at first. I never really thought much of it, just figured I was in the wrong spot. Then it started to get a little worse when we would drink. Which we did a lot. We always drank. It was our escape and we were both running. He began shoving me and kicking me. I just figured he was an angry drunk.

It never really went through my mind that he was abusing me. It's just who we were. It would go on like that for weeks. But then he would be the sweet Danny I remember falling for. Everything would be peaceful again." She took a breath and I wiped away her tear.

"The night is still so clear in my mind. Pieces of it still are foggy though. But majority of it is there haunting me." She said, more tears falling.

"What happened, Bells?" I asked rubbing her shoulder sweetly.

"He was really drunk and we started talking about you and how you didn't care anymore. I slapped him hard across the face. You could almost see the anger boil under his skin. So I ran. And I drank a lot while I was running. Eventually I felt his hands grab my shoulders. He threw me up against the wall and then he pinned me there….

"_'You'll never be good enough for anyone, you dirty slut'_ Danny said to me. The alcohol had taken over my body at this point and I kicked him in the groin.

_'Stupid, bitch.'_ He spat at me as I made my way out the door. Holly ran into us as she was making her way upstairs. She smiled sweetly at us, knowing what was happening. It made me hate her. She always knew but never helped me.

Eventually he caught up to me, dragging me into the park, it was close to midnight so the cover of darkness hid us. He threw me against a rock and watched as I slid to the ground in pain. _'Not even good enough for her friends, lame little Bella Swan'_ he whispered into my ear. He shoved his hand in my mouth so I couldn't yell. I tried so hard to bite him and get away but he just kept holding my throat up to the wall.

Everything started to go black but not enough that I totally lost it. I still felt the pain as he shredded me of all my clothes. I was completely helpless as he took me. I couldn't fight him off and the city was asleep. I remember when he was done with me he hit my back against the park bench and left me, laughing to himself.

I was alone, and scared. I knew my apartment wasn't far from the park but I had no idea where Danny had dragged me. I lay there crying, screaming hoping someone was out there. I guess someone eventually found me because next thing I knew I woke up in my bed. That's when I told Renee I needed help.

So she got me on the next flight out here. But she couldn't take me to the airport so I got a cab. As I was leaving my apartment though there was a note left for me at the front desk. **I'll make you're life living hell, I swear to God. You can't run from me.**

That's why Emmett's making you guys stay with me. He's afraid Danny's going to put it together one of these days because he's been calling the house phone." Bella finished, tears freely falling now.

**(THIS IS WHERE THE SECRET ENDS)**

"Shh, it's going to be okay, Bells. You have us now. He won't get anywhere near you." I cooed to her, hoping to calm her down. The friendship thing between us was new again and fragile. But she trusted me, so I went with it.

"I'm so scared, Eddie." She whispered, leaning her head against my chest.

"Does Lochie know?" I asked, thinking about what my next move would be to make her safe.

"No. I don't want him to know. My past is my past, I only trust you guys to know." She said, sniffling.

"Have you at least seen a doctor Bella?" I asked, concerned that she was hurt, or worse pregnant.

"No, but I know I'm not pregnant. I took an at home test one day while Charlie was at work." She said, surpressing one of my fears. "Please don't tell anyone."

"I promise."

----------------

Bella POV

My secret was out. Two people in the small town of Forks now knew my secret. I was scared though. I felt someone needed to know, that I was going to need help one of these days. Luckily it had been a few days and nothing had happened. Edward and I hadn't said much to each other in the past few days, but occasionally caught each others attention from across the room.

"Bella, you better stop staring at my brother before Lochie gets jealous." Alice hissed into my ear bringing my back to reality.

We were sitting on the bleaches watching the big game everyone had been practicing for. I merely chuckled to myself and felt my cheeks stain with red.

"You know if Lochie wasn't in the picture, I would say you're totally in love with Edward." Alice said in hushed tones. I turned to her, my eyes wide.

"You're absurd. We're just becoming friends again." I said, scoffing at the idea of being in love with Edward. Then he looked up from the ice with his crooked grin and pointed at us. I felt my heart pound and put my head down. I could see Alice smirk out of the corner of my eye. "Shut up. I'm really happy with Lochie."

"Uhhuh." Alice said. I just rolled me eyes at her and turned to face the game again.

It ended up being an amazing game. It went to a shoot out and had everyone on the edge of their seats. Emmett went first, scoring for us. The opposing team returned the gesture, scoring their own goal. Then we sent out Will, who scored as well. The other team chocked and it was down to us to score the last goal. I watched as #10 EDWARD CULLEN flashed across the screen.

"They're putting Edward out there?" I asked Alice, not remembering that he had that good of shot.

"Just you wait, Bells." She said, with a smug smile on her face. I watched as Edward weaved towards the goal throwing the puck to the top corner completely passing the goalies shoulder.

Both Alice and I jumped out of sheer thrill. We were officially an official place holder of this years championship games. We sat in our seats until everyone else had left and waited for our players to come out of the locker room.

"You were fantastic, Jaz." I said as Jasper left. He nodded his head and walked straight to Alice to swing her around in his arms. Suddenly I felt myself being lifted into the air.

"We did it, Squirt!" Emmett hollered, squeezing my guts out.

"Em, I can't breath." I hissed. He put me down and I could see the cheer radiating from his eyes. I patted him on the shoulder and kissed his cheek.

"Oh hey, Squirt, can you take Puck out later? Rosie and me are going out to dinner." He said. I nodded my head and turned back around waiting for Lochie.

"Oh, look. It's our number one fan." A velvety, smooth voice said from behind me. I turned to see Edward standing there his shirt half buttoned and his tie draped around his neck.

"Why do you look so upset?" I asked, buttoning up the rest of his shirt. He shrugged. "Don't give me that, I know something's wrong."

"It's just kinda a bummer, you know? This is the type of moment you just want to go to your girlfriend and celebrate. I guess it just hurts knowing what Lauren would be doing right now if we were still dating." He said, not taking his eyes off the floor once. I wrapped my arms around him tightly.

"You can hug me. I won't hurt you." I said, breathing in his scent. He only released me when we heard a cough from beside us. I turned to see Lochie and immediately dropped my arms from Edward.

"Lochie! You did great!" I said, wrapping my arms around him now. I pressed my lips to his in a sweet manner, not wanting to get carried away. I looked him straight in the eye and noticed something off. "Not you too. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He said, in a short answer. I grabbed his hand as he began walking towards the door.

"Want to go get dinner or something? We could always go watch a movie?" I said, trying to get him to stop walking.

"Yeah, okay." He said, kissing my forehead and leading me over to his car. I had gotten a ride with Alice today and didn't have to worry about my car staying there overnight.

We got to my house with not much said between us. We walked in and he set his coat on the table, moving towards the couch.

"Where's Charlie?" He asked, laying down on the couch, playing with Puck.

"Working late." I said, grabbing some movies before joining him. "I think he's just avoiding Emmett. They got into a fight over Puck. But who could hate this face?" I said, taking Puck's face in my hands and kissing his forehead. I shooed him off the couch before laying with my head on Lochie's chest.

"You're not happy." I finally said, after a few minutes of awkward silence. "Tell me what's got you acting like this. Please?"

"It's nothing, really." He said, pulling me tighter to his chest and kissing the top of my head. "I'm just being silly."

"Obviously it's something. You haven't said more than five words in every sentence you've said to me." I said, propping my self up so I could face him eye to eye.

"You haven't noticed it, have you?" He asked, sitting up so I was straddling his hips.

"Noticed what?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

"I see the way you look at him, Bella. I'm not dumb. And I know you're best friends or whatever it is you are now. But the looks you two give each other, the way you guys finish each others sentences. I don't want to have to fight to be your world, Bella. I want you to want to be with me, like I want to be with you." He said, his hands rubbing up and down my sides. I got up and moved towards the stairs. "Bella!"

"Honestly? You honestly question my feelings for you?" I said, not turning around to face him again. "I have never, EVER felt the way about Edward that I feel for you. Sure he's my best friend. You're being absurd."

"Bella! Stop, running for one minute!" He shouted at me as I walked up the stairs. I turned around with my tear stained cheeks.

"What?" I asked in a defeated tone.

"I'm not angry at you, I just wanted you to know. I don't want to have to fight Edward for you. I can't find the bond you have, no matter how long we date. He took that spot in your heart long before I even came here. I'm willing to take whatever part of your heart I can have, but just know, I'm not oblivious. I know he holds the majority of your heart." Lochie said, before shutting the door, leaving me sobbing on the floor.

I must have fallen asleep on the floor because next thing I knew Emmett was hollering my name.

"Squirt?" I could hear him shout. "BELLA!" He finally yelled. I was just rubbing the sleep out of my eyes when he found me. "Bella, what's wrong? Did he come here? Is he here?"

"No. Calm down. Lochie and I got into a fight about Edward." I said, stretching. I could see Emmett's shoulders tense. "He didn't hurt me, well not physically at least." I said, sitting on the stool in the kitchen.

"What happened, Squirt? Should I kick his ass?" Emmett asked, hopping up onto the counter.

"He just started accusing me of loving Edward and having a bigger spot in my heart for Edward than for him. Em, it's ridiculous. Edward and I have been talking for like 3 weeks now, not even! Lochie's being ridiculous!" I said out of frustration.

"But Edward knows about Danny." Emmett said, grabbing an apple out of the bowl. "You can't bring yourself to tell Lochie." He said as if he had stated the greatest point ever.

"I don't get it, what's Danny got to do with this?" I said, looking at my brother like he was an idiot.

"Think about it, Squirt. You felt okay telling Edward. You felt safe, even though you're right, you've only been talking for a few weeks. You can't even face Lochie when he tries to get you to talk."

"That's because I just want to talk when I'm with Edward. It's like he makes me feel better about myself, so I want to tell him every flaw. He makes me feel whole again." I said, sighing.

"Point and case, Squirt." Emmett said just as the door was opening. It was Charlie, Edward, Alice, Jasper, Rose, Esme, and Carlisle. "Just think about it."

"Well it's quite the party in here now, huh?" I said, standing up to go greet everyone.

"We're all going out to dinner to celebrate the big win." Carlisle said, clapping his hand on Emmett's shoulder.

"I looked at the clock and realized it was only 8. I shrugged my shoulders in agreement, realizing just how hungry I was. Lochie and I never ate because he stormed out.

"Bells, why don't you call Lochie?" Charlie suggested, hanging up his holster and grabbing his regular coat.

"Not tonight, Dad." I said, walking over to where Edward stood. I watched his eyes light up. "Alright, well, lets go!" I said, quickly changing the subject.

The kids all piled up in Emmett's jeep, all four of us squished in the back. Emmett was making a lame joke when all of a sudden my phone started to ring. I pulled out my phone and looked at the 1 NEW MESSAGE screen. The phone dropped out of my hand. Edward grabbed it. The horror flashed across his face before fury took him over. Emmett tensed in the front seat.

"Isabella, what is it?" Emmett asked in his parental voice.

"He knows."

**A/N -- Hope you guys enjoyed!! Sorry it's been a while since I updated, Lochie is studying for his SAT's and Kyle asked if I could help him with the english portion and the essay stuff. But anyways, I really liked this chapter. But i need your opinions on a few things**

**-Do I change the rating to M? **

**-Do I have Lochie and Bella break up soon (this doesnt ensure B&E right away)?**

**thanks so much! Review away please!!! **


	9. The One We've All Been Waiting For

Bella POV

"Fear makes you fragile." – The Goo Goo Dolls

"Bella. You heard me. What did the message say?" Emmett commanded from the front seat. Everyone was exchanging looks of confusion in the car. I turned to Edward as he reassuringly squeezed my knee.

"He knows I'm here." I croaked out, my voice changing pitch at the end. Edward put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his chest as I cried.

I heard Emmett hit the steering wheel. I hung my head, leaning on Edward for all my support. He was taking in shaky breathes, shallow, not completely filling his lungs. I could feel the tension in his shoulder as I leaned on him. Jasper was rubbing his hand up and down my back.

"Alright, everyone out. I need to talk to Bella. We'll be there in a minute." Emmett said. I hadn't even realized we had made it to the restaurant. Everyone piled out of the car except Edward. "That means you too."

"Go ahead, Edward." I said, squeezing his torso once more before letting go and supporting myself. He dipped his head down and kissed my cheek, before jumping out of the car. I was in pure shock he had just done that. My cheek was tingling from where his lips had touched me.

"Bells, let me see your phone." Emmett said reaching his hand out for my phone. He read the text from Danny. He knew where I was. All of a sudden my phone was being shattered against the ground.

"EM!" I yelled as I watched the pieces scatter around the car. "That was my phone, asshole!"

"We'll get you a new one. _With a new number_. I don't want him knowing how to contact you anymore. I want your speed dials to be me, Dad, Jasper and Edward. You can add anyone you'd like after that. Life's different now, Bells. I don't want you alone, ever. At least call one of us and tell us you're going and when you get back. You know we're going to have to tell Dad." Emmett said.

"I'm scared, Em. What if Dad's mad I let this all happen?" I said, resting my head on my brothers chest as he pulled me into a hug.

"Squirt, none of this is your fault. No one is ever going to be mad about this with you." He said, pulling back to wipe my tears. Luckily they were slowed now and were almost done.

"I love you, Em." I said, straightening myself out.

"I love you too, Squirt. We'll go get you a new phone after dinner alright?" Emmett promised, wrapping an arm around my shoulder before walking into the restaurant with me. We were quickly lead to our table and I saw an empty seat next to Edward.

"Everything okay?" Charlie asked as we sat down. Emmett and I exchanged exasperated looks.

"Uhuh." I said. "My phone fell when I was getting out of the car. It's in like 100 pieces." I said, shooting daggers at Emmett, "Em and I are gonna go pick up a new one after dinner."

"Always the graceful one, Bella." Charlie commented, the whole table erupted with laughter. I blushed a deep shade of red. Cool, Dad.

Dinner went on as normal, except for the side glances I kept getting from Alice and Rose, knowing that they would hound me for details later. Great, just what I wanted to deal with. I didn't want to drag everyone into this. I was scared Danny would go after them too.

"So Bella, how's life with Lochie? He's quite the hockey player." Esme said, looking across at me, while I was quietly talking to Edward.

"Oh! Uh- yeah, he's great at hockey. We're uh- we're fine." I stammered out. Wonderful Bella, way to sound like an extreme idiot.

As soon as dinner was over we excused ourselves so we could go to the mall. We all piled out of the car, none of us saying a word to each other the whole way there.

"I'll even buy you the bigger version of that phone, Squirt." Emmett said wrapping an arm around my shoulder as he took Rose's hand.

"Wait, why is Emmett buying your phone?" Alice asked, pulling Jasper in tow.

"Because he threw it on the ground." I said softly. I felt my cheeks turn pink.

"I'm so lost. What's going on lately?" Rose asked. I stopped walking before turning to Emmett.

"I need to talk to Rose and Alice. Can we meet you guys in the Apple store in like 30 minutes?" I said. Emmett nodded and gave my shoulder a squeeze. I watched as Edward, Jasper and him went into the sporting goods store.

"His name was Danny…" My story began, again for the third time. A story I never wanted anyone to hear. A story that hurt so bad I felt numb. "So that's why I'm here. And now he knows I'm here. That's what the text was about in the car."

Alice wiped away a tear that had fallen from her eye as Rose wrapped an arm tightly around my shoulder.

"You didn't deserve any of that, Bell." Rose cooed into my ear, soothing me. "He's a dirtbag. If Danny tries to come near you again don't worry, he'll get hell for what he did to you."

"I'm scared. I don't want him to find me." I said, looking down.

"Sweetie, he already knows where you are. We'll just have to be cautious. He won't get to you, we promise." Alice said, taking one of my hands in hers.

"We don't have to meet the boys for another 10 minutes." Rose said, looking at her phone. "Want to tell them to go earlier?"

"Can we just stay here?" I asked. Alice and Rose nodded.

"Good, I can talk to you about something now then." Alice said, perking up again. We all laughed as we braced ourselves for Alice's interrogation. "What's going on with you and Lochie?"

Edwards POV

"You're gonna make sure she gets a new number too, right man?" I asked Emmett frantically as we walked into Modells.

"For the thousandth time, yes Edward. He won't be able to call her anymore." Emmett answered, moving towards the hockey sticks.

"I still don't know what's going on." Jasper sighed, sitting on the bench next to the sticks. I quickly explained the story to Jasper, leaving out the more gruesome details. "Shit man. Why did we leave the girls alone just now again?"

"That's a good question. But they need some space right now, and it's not like we're far enough to not hear them scream or something." Emmett answered. He looked at his watch and put down the neon colored stick. "Lets go to the store."

We walked silently down to the Apple Store. Bella went with Emmett to talk to a sales person while I stood by the Ipods with Alice. She was rambling on and on about how horrible what Danny did was, I didn't want to think of it. I knew just how bad it was, and I'd really rather not lose control in the middle of a store.

"Oh, by the way, did you tell Bella you're gonna be in the talent show?" Alice said, nudging my arm.

"No. It's only for my music midterm. It's not a big deal." I said, looking down at the little ipod in my hand.

"By the look on your face, you want her to be there. Don't lie to me, Edward. If you want her there that bad, tell her." Alice said, lowering her voice so only I could hear her.

"What do you want me to say, hey Bells, I'm totally in love with you but you have a boyfriend and I really want you to be there because I feel whole again when you're near me? Yeah I don't think so. She's Lochie's, not mine." I hissed at my sister.

"She's no ones property Edward." Alice spat at me before walking over to Jasper and Rose who were leaning up against a table.

"Hey, ready to go?" Bella's sweet voice broke me out of my thoughts a few minutes later. I smiled down at her as I watched her play with her new phone.

"Yup." I said, grabbing her phone and started to add my number. I felt my grin find its way to my face as I saw I was already added. "You've memorized my number?"

"Uhm, uh yeah. I hope you don't mind, you're the second speed dial." She said, as her beautiful blush spread across her cheeks. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to me.

"Not at all." I said, as we left the store.

It was Monday night, the night of the talent show. I hadn't told Bella about the show, but I'm pretty sure she knew it was going on. She just didn't know I was playing and singing in it.

I was pacing behind the stage, waiting for my call. This was dreadful. I really didn't want to do this, but I knew I had to do it to pass my music class.

"Cullen! You're on next." I heard shouted through the back. I walked towards the entrance and waited for my cue. Here goes nothing.

Bella POV

It was Monday night, the night of the talent show. I was sitting front row between Alice and Lochie and couldn't help but wonder where Edward was. I tried asking Alice but she just shooshed me and went back to talking to Jasper. I felt Lochie weave his fingers within mine and sigh. Things just weren't as blissful as they were before.

Everyone clapped as Lauren and Jessica got of the stage, Alice and I just gagged at each other, pretending to be sick. But it was what the MC said next that caught me off guard.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, for one night only, Forks High's very own hockey captain, playing his own song. Without further of due, Edward Cullen." He announced. I felt my jaw drop as I looked at Alice. She was beaming with pride. When I turned to Lochie he had a scowl on his face, and if looks could kill, the whole room would be dead.

"So, um, I wrote this song myself. It's called, _You. _I hope you guys enjoy it." Edward said before positioning himself in front of the piano and moving the mic.

"_You, are the faith that kills the fear of being real – yeah this is real_

_Now for the first time, I'm finally alive_

_You, take my fist inside your hands, you squeeze and I understand_

_But I get lost in the politics of love_

_You still surprise me everyday_

_You blanket me with grace _

_You clear the static and you get me reconnected."_

I watched as Edward played the piano with his eyes shut and sang out the chorus, hitting every note perfectly. I could see the emotion dance across his face, he looked upset.

"_You put your fingers in my hair_

_You broke into my head the sacrifice so you could feel like I do_

_You know, that it's easier alone_

_You know, that it's easier along_

_But I can't be me without you_

_You, see the days sallow me whole_

_You see me bang my head off walls_

_Put your face on mine and say, Let it be._

_You said if everyone gets lost,_

_You pressed your mouth against my lips_

_You sang a song, but there's no strategy with your melodies love."_

I felt a tear brimming in my eyes. Edward had opened his brilliant green eyes and was looking straight at me as he sang through the chorus again. He never took his eyes off of me.

"_You, are the faith that kills the fear _

_Of being real- yeah this is real_

_Now for the first time, I have arrived." _Edward stood up and exited the stage quickly as the crowd erupted. I remained seated, my whole body in shock. Everyone else was on their feet cheering. Alice bent down and whispered in my ear.

"Don't look so surprised, the boy's been crazy about you since you two were born. You've always known that." She whispered. I looked up at her my jaw hanging wide open. I turned and realized Lochie wasn't next to me.

"I'm gonna go get some air." I said to Alice as I began to weave my way out of the crowd. She nodded and threw her coat on my seat to save it for me.

I finally made it to the doors and burst outside into the chilly night. I took a few deep breaths, letting the cool air fill my lungs. I looked around and finally saw Lochie out on the main lawn where we ate lunch on the few days when it didn't rain. Unfortunately tonight it was raining.

"Lochie?" I said, moving towards him. The rain stung as it mixed with the cold air on my skin.

"What do you want, Bella?" He hissed at me through the dark, his words cutting through my heart.

"What the hell, Lochie? Why are you doing this?" I asked wrapping my arms around my body.

"Doing what, Bella? You're the one whose in love with your best friend. And guess what, you're the only who doesn't see it!" He shouted at me. I felt the tears threaten to stream down my face.

"Do not yell at me." I said as calmly as I could.

"Bella, open your eyes. It's always been Edward. And it always will be. That song, that as about you, everything that boy does is about you. I'm sick of playing your twisted games. Pick right here, right now. Whose it going to be, Bella. Edward Cullen or me?" Lochie continued to shout at me.

"This isn't fair." I whispered as the tears freely fell down my face. "You can't make me chose this."

"Either you chose it, or I'll chose it for you." He hissed.

"Why, Lochie? What happened to the nice, sweet guy I met in September? Where'd he go?" I asked, finally feeling all the rage built up inside me.

"He realized he has been trying to win the affection of a girl who wasn't even his to begin with. Look me straight in the eye and tell me you don't love Edward Cullen in any way, shape or form." He said, forcefully dragging me under a streetlight. I winced at his touch.

"Stop it!" I shouted. I was now soaked and tried to get my wet, matted hair out of my face. "You're being ridiculous!"

"I'm being ridiculous? All of a sudden you're the one hiding things from me, doing things behind my back, talking in hushed tones. If anything I'm being delusional! I'm absolutely crazy!" Lochie said, walking away from me.

"So that's it, huh? Just gonna walk away?" I shouted. He stopped and turned to look at me.

"You walked away along time ago, Bella." He said before walking towards his car. I let a strangled scream and started kicking the streetlight. I cried underneath that streetlamp for what seemed like hours.

"Squirt!" I heard being shouted from the building. "BELLA!"

"Emmett, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let her come out here by herself, I thought she was just going to the lobby." I could hear Alice.

"Bella!" Emmett was getting closer. I couldn't will myself to stand up though. I was crumpled under the lamp. "There you are. Was he here? Did he hurt you?"

"Lochie." I mumbled out. Alice nodded her head understandingly. Emmett just cocked his head to the side and looked at me.

"What about him?" Emmett asked.

"It's done." I croaked. Suddenly I felt Emmett's strong arms pick me up bridal style as he carried me to the car.

Emmett POV

I felt my heart rip in two as I remembered how broken my baby sister looked under the street light last night. I was livid, thinking about what Lochie did to her, what she's been through. I would have to face him today, as his captain. I heard my phone ring as I got into my car to drive off to practice.

"Hello?"  
_"Em? It's Edward." _Edward said, sounding distraught.

"What's up, Eddie-Boy?" I asked.

_"Think you can give me a ride to practice?" _Edward asked, I was already in my car so I just spun around and went towards the Cullen's house.

"Sure thing. I'll see you in a few, bro." I hung up, speeding off towards Edward's. I didn't want to face Lochie today, I really didn't think I could handle myself well around him. Soon enough I was pulling up and saw Edward standing outside with his hockey bag, ready to go.

"You look like you haven't slept in days." I called out of my jeep as he through his bag into the back.

"I didn't sleep last night. I was thinking of every way I could possibly avoid killing that dirty Australian at practice this morning." Edward hissed as he sank into my passenger seat.

"We can't do anything about it. Coach will have our asses. We have about two more months of season with him, then you can kick his ass." I said. We drove the rest of the way to rink in silence.

I got out first, grabbing my bag and my sticks. I didn't bother waiting for Edward to get his lazy butt out of the car before I headed in and met the rest of the boys in the locker room.

"Alright boys. Practice is gonna be hard today. No ones getting off easy because we won the other night. Lace up and be on the ice in 10 minutes." I said as I got in. Lochie looked up at me as I went to sit down. I felt a growl in my chest and he looked back down. Finally a freshman spoke up as Edward entered the room.

"Why does Edward get to be late?" Paul asked to no one in particular. I looked at Edward who was pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Edward had a rough night." I answered, nonchalantly. I just needed to get through the next two hours. I laced up my skates and nudged Edward.

"I'll start practice. Keep your cool, man." I said, before leaving Edward alone in the locker room.

"What are you pansies all doing just standing around? Go!" I shouted. It wasn't fair that I was taking out my anger on the team, but I would be in trouble if I singled out Lochie. I was standing at center ice when Edward finally joined me.

"I'm going to burst. Seriously, Em. I don't know how you're just standing here." Edward said, leaning on his stick as he adjusted to his skates.

"Because a, coach would kill us and b, Bella would take care of whatever coach didn't. You know she hates when we fight." I said, watching the lines do 3 v. 2 weaves.

"Hey Jas, I got this one." Edward called Jasper off the line and went onto the defensive line. Jasper came and stood by me.

"What's he doing on defense?" Jasper asked.

"Something we all want to do." I said quietly. I watched as the puck went between Gray and Trevor and finally to Lochie. Edward waited a minute and then completely railed Lochie to the boards. Lochie laid crumple on the ice for a minute before jumping back up.

"Again." Lochie growled, standing back up straight.

"Fine by me." Edward said, getting back into position. The same process happened. I stood shaking my head, thankful coach had let us run practice this morning. Lochie called again.

"Aren't you gonna do something, man? They're going to kill each other." Jasper said, ready to go back to his rightful line.

"Let them work it out." I said, pulling Jasper back. Edward continued to rail Lochie against the boards, no matter what fancy movie he would try to make. Finally they just started decking each other. Jasper and I were able to separate them.

"Are you done beating the shit out of me, Cullen?" Lochie shouted as he spat blood onto the ice from where Edward hit his jaw.

"Not until you're as fucked up as you made Bella feel." Edward shouted back at Lochie. Jasper tried to pull Edward to the locker room, but he wouldn't budge.

"Why because she's in love with you, you're going to beat me up?" Lochie said, right as Edward broke free and hit Lochie square in the nose.

"Alright practice is done for the day." I shouted finally. "You two. Stay the hell away from each other." I said, pointing between Lochie and Edward. "And Lochie, if you value anything about yourself, you'll won't touch another hair on my baby sister's hair, every again."

"It was Ed-" Lochie began.

"Don't even try to blame this one me! Bella was crazy about you! You are the one who messed everything up." Edward hissed at him as he stormed off the ice and slammed the door into the locker room.

"You're messing with the wrong family." I said to Lochie before following Edward into the locker room. I could hear Jasper laughing and following behind me.

"Bro, you made us sound like the mob." Jasper said, laughing as he slumped into the seat next to me. I rolled my eyes and started laughing. Jasper's laughter followed mine and then finally Edward joined us. The three of us were beside ourselves laughing.

We finally got our act together and showered quickly. Jasper and Edward got into the Jeep; Will wasn't going to school so Jasper no longer had a ride. We rode silently, except for the occasional spurt of laughter. Jasper and I jumped out of the car and ran over to our girls.

Edward however, stayed back a little. I saw Bella smirk at him and I watched as his grinned that dumb grin back at her. He walked over to her and started nudging her in a flirty manner. Rose grabbed my arms to get my attention back.

"They'll realize it soon enough." Rosie sighed, leaning into my chest.

"Realize what?" I said, tightening my arms around her.

"That they're in love." She said before reaching up to kiss me.

**A/N- There you have it. The one we've all been waiting for. I had trouble trying to get enough emotion in this without it seeming fabricated. Anyways review away pleaseeeeee. I need some inspiration to write lately with all the wedding stuff going on! **


	10. The One With The Surprise

****

Bellas POV

"You're smile is the most genuine thing I've ever seen. I was lost and now I believe."

- Dashboard Confessional

It had been two weeks. Two weeks since I last spoke to Lochie, two weeks since I had my heart ripped out. Luckily for me, I had my friends and my brother, who made sure that I was well taken care of. Lochie always seemed to avert eye contact with me in the halls too, I wondered if Emmett had said something to him.

I hadn't heard from Danny either since I got my new phone. I was thrilled that he couldn't contact me anymore, but at the same time it felt like a ticking bomb. At any minute I felt that Danny would show up and burst my happiness. I tried my best not to think of him though, especially with Christmas and winter break coming up.

We were getting out of school at the end of this week for vacation. I never understood why they gave us such a long break here, in New York they only ever gave us a week or two, not three. I didn't complain though.

It was last period and I was walking through the crowded hallways looking for my brother. I had study hall and really just wanted to go home, but I knew he would never let me walk by myself. That was when I saw my bronze haired best friend.

"Hey Eddie!" I called, getting his attention.

"Bells! Excited for break?" He asked, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. Edward and I were getting closer and closer every day. I really was starting to notice how much I missed him when I was in New York.

"I can't wait. 3 wonderful weeks of nothing. It's going to be amazing." I said, relaxing against him.

"Three wonderful weeks without Lauren." He sighed, as we reached a table in the cafeteria where study hall was held. "I swear to god if she tries to throw herself at me one more time I may get sick."

"Oh Eddie and his lady problems." I giggled. Lauren hadn't left Edward alone for the past few weeks. Ever since Edward found her cheating on him, he made it very clear that they were done for good. However Lauren wasn't having that.

"Very funny, Bells." Edward said as he got up to go buy a Gatorade. He came and sat back down and looked at me funny. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." I tried to lie as I looked at my phone.

"You never were good at lying." Edward said, laughing.

"It just seems all too good to be true. You know? Like Danny just stopped trying to get to me. It doesn't make sense. It's not like Danny. He doesn't give up like that." I said, sighing as I closed my eyes and leaned against the chair.

"He's not going to find you, alright? It's done. And if he does try to get close to you, he's gonna have to deal with the rest of us before getting near you." Edward said as he rubbed my arm.

"I guess you're right." I said, my eyes still shut.

"You bet, I'm right." Edward said. I opened my eyes to see his crooked grin. I couldn't help but smile in return. "There's my girl. That's a typical Bella Swan smile."

I laughed and felt my heart skip a beat when he called me his girl. I wished he would do it more often. I felt myself blush at my thoughts and quickly put my head down on the table. I knew he noticed anyways.

"Em said something about a hockey meeting right after school, wanna come with then we can go into town and grab some food?" Edward asked, playing with the bottom of my hair. I felt an electric current go through my whole body when he touched me.

"Surely." I said, picking my head up slowly. "Ugh!"

"What's wrong?" Edward said suddenly, looking panicked.

"I'm tired." I said, yawning. Edward simply chuckled at me. He shook his head and thought about it for a minute.

"Here, jump on." Edward said, crouching down so I could hop onto his back.

"You're ridiculous!" I said, trying to move away from him.

"Not at all, c'mon, wouldn't want to be late for Emmett's meeting." Edward said, moving towards me.

"I'm heavier than you're average backpack, Eddie." I said, standing on the chair so I could reach his shoulders.

"Nonsense." Edward said as I finally got onto his back. He lifted me with such ease that I was shocked. I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"I feel like a little kid again." I said, happily against his neck. I felt him shudder and then felt his body shake with laughter.

"Do you remember when we used to do this when we were little?" He asked me. Of course, I remembered everything about him, but I wouldn't tell him that.

"Sort of." I said, trying to play it off cool.

"Let's see if this refreshes your memory." Edward said. I knew what was coming next. Edward took off running down the hallway. His grip tightened around my legs as I hooked my ankles together.

"Edward!" I cried from his back, burying my face in his neck.

"At this rate Bells, we're going to be late." Edward laughed as he kept running. He started to spin around in circles as we got closer to the gym. He kicked open the door with his foot, while balancing on the other.

"How do you do that without falling?" I asked, through my giggles.

"One of my many hidden talents, Bells." He said as he kept spinning and running forward. I let myself go and threw my head back laughing this time. I could hear his musical laughter mixing with mine. Suddenly I heard someone clear his throat and Edward stopped spinning.

"Dude." Emmett said, nodding his head towards the whole hockey team sitting in the bleachers. Edward gave my leg one more squeeze before letting me slide down to the ground. To say I was bright red was an understatement.

"Well now that we're all, uh- here. A few of you geniuses are being put on academic probation. We're gonna be down a few forwards for the rest of the season. Seth, Robbie, Justin and Trevor, you guys are out until you get your failing grades up. Sorry guys." Emmett said. The four of them got up and left the meeting.

"Em, how that's the whole second line." Edward hissed. "We can't make that up before playoffs." Emmett just nodded in response with a sober look on his face.

"We're going to be short players, which means everyone's going to have to work harder. We probably won't make it past a few rounds this year, but it is what it is." Emmett said. He started to walk away when Edward nudged me.

"Bells, what do you say?" Edward whispered.

"You're kidding right?" I looked at Edward with utter disbelief.

"Not at all, just give it a shot. We have nothing left to lose on this team." Edward was begging at this point. "Please Bella, for me?"

"I hate you, Edward Cullen." I hissed. "Emmett! Wait!" I couldn't believe I was about to do this.

"What, Squirt?" Emmett turned around looking like someone had just taken away his puppy. He wanted nothing but to win states this year, his last year. I knew how much this meant to him.

"What if I played?" I asked, looking down at the floor. Suddenly my big brother was spinning me around in the air.

"Would you do that, Bells?" He asked, before setting my down on my feet. I looked up into his eyes, then I looked over at Edward who was grinning.

"Yeah, I'd give it a try. Just so you can win states though." I said. Suddenly I was back in the air being twirled around.

"Alright, listen up. My baby sister is joining us for the rest of the season. While she may be one of us now, I swear to god I'll still rip all your heads off if you so much as hurt her." Emmett said, wrapping an arm around me as he spoke to the crowd in front of us. Edward wrapped an arm around the other side of me. We stood there for a moment while it sunk it with the boys.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Jasper stood up first, before running down to grab me. He put me up on his shoulders before running around the gym. He seriously was becoming my second brother.

After a few minutes I finally got Jasper to put me down. Everyone had come up and hugged me or patted me on the back. I couldn't see Edward or Emmett anywhere. Lochie had stormed out of the room as soon as the meeting was over. That was gonna be awkward. Once everyone had left Edward and Emmett reappeared. Edward had something behind his back and Emmett was holding a bag.

"We have something for you." Emmett said, tossing the bag to the side, "Well besides that old crappy bag for your gear."

"What?" I said, trying to see behind Edward's back.

Edward pulled out a Forks High jersey. I shook my head not understanding how that was special. It was just a jersey. Then Edward turned it around and I felt tears instantly pool to my eyes. It said SWAN in big letters, with a number 8. My old number.

"How?" I asked, running my hand over the lettering.

"There's a press in the back. Eddie over here wouldn't let anyone have your number so we always just had an 8 lying around. We just threw on the letters." Emmett said, as I threw my arms around his neck.

"I love you, big brother." I said.

"I love you too, Squirt." Emmett chuckled as I moved to Edward who was still holding the jersey.

"Why didn't you let anyone have my number?" I asked, as I took the jersey from his hands.

"Didn't feel right. I felt like it was the last piece of you I could hold onto." Edward said, looking at his feet. I pulled my arms around his neck and just stayed there. I felt his arms snake around my waist and pull me into him. When we finally pulled away I felt like part of me was missing.

"Lets go get Squirt some gear!" Emmett roared as we all laughed. I jumped back up onto Edward's back as we walked towards the Jeep. Rose and Alice were standing next to it, looking rather impatient.

"Where have you guys been?" Alice asked, leaping up to hug Jasper.

" Four of our guys are on academic probation and can't play. We had an emergency meeting." Emmett said as he went over to place a kiss on Rosalie's head.

"Oh my god! Four guys! What the hell are you gonna do? Play offs are right around the corner." Alice said, leaning against Jasper for support.

"That's where Bella comes into play." Jasper said. Finally Alice and Rose turned to see Edward and me. I was still perched happily on Edward's back. Alice and Rose both got evil grins on their face. "Bella's gonna be our new forward."

"Oh really?" Rose asked. I nodded. "So I guess we're going to get her gear right now?"

"Yup." I said, popping the 'p'.

"I call my own seat!" Alice shouted, jumping into the back of the jeep. She sat in the middle seat. Rose got into the passenger seat and Jasper sat next to Alice wrapping an arm around her. That left Edward and me.

"Bella you can just sit on Edward's lap. I'm sure he doesn't mind." Alice said, leaning back into Jasper. That evil little pixie friend of mine.

"I don't mind at all, Bells. Well as long as you're okay with it." Edward said as he climbed into the jeep. I shout Alice a dirty look.

"Okay." I said softly. I felt the blush on my cheeks, as I turned bright red.

Edward's arms snaked around me until they were comfortably holding me. After a few moments I relaxed and leaned into his warm body. Edward was singing softly to the song on the radio. His mouth was right next to my ear. I could feel his breath fan across my cheek.

I shivered. I didn't realize how cold I was until I was pressed up against his warm body. I could feel his arms tighten around me as I snuggled closer to his chest. I shut my eyes and inhaled his heavenly scent. I couldn't place my finger on what cologne it was. I felt safe. Safer than I had in a long time.

I turned my head up to see that Edward's eyes were closed as well. He looked peaceful and at ease. I let my head fall back to his chest and snuggled in.

"Guys?" I heard Jasper awkwardly say. I opened my eyes to see Jasper, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, looking at us. "We're uh- we're here."

I felt myself turn bright red as I untangled myself from Edward's grasp. I guess neither of us noticed that the car had stopped moving. We were now parked outside of the sports store in town and Emmett looked like a kid in a candy store.

"Squirt, this is going to be so much fun. Alright so you need pants, shoulder pads, gloves, a few sticks, oh and a helmet!" Emmett said as he dragged me into the store. An hour and a half later, I was good to go with my new gear.

We drove home in silence, this time Alice perched on Jasper's lap. Edward and I hadn't said a word to each other about the car ride. I simply immersed myself in conversation with Rose about the upcoming Christmas break. Emmett had said we we're gonna have off from hockey until after Christmas.

"We're home!" Alice called, dancing through her front door as we all filed into the Cullen's house.

"Oh my. There you guys are! I was beginning to worry!" Esme said, wiping her hands on her skirt.

"There's nothing to worry about, Mrs. C. Not now that Bella's joined the hockey team." Emmett said, walking into the kitchen.

"Emmett, I've told you time and time again to call me Esme. And what's this about Bella playing hockey?" Esme said, shoving us all into the kitchen after Emmett.

"A few guys got probation so Bells is gonna play." Edward said, grabbing a few grapes from the counter and popping them into his mouth. He flashed his crooked grin at me.

"Yeah, figured why not let Em have his shot at the states. They would have gone no where down that many guys this late in the season." I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"That is very exciting, Bella. You guys have off for winter break thought, right?" Esme asked, stirring whatever was cooking on the stove.

"Yeah, probably stuck indoors cause of the cold though." Rose sighed, leaning against Emmett.

"Well, us parents have a surprise for you kids, but I guess I should wait for the others to get here first. How about you guys go play video games or something? They should be here soon." Esme said. She didn't need to say video games twice before Emmett, Edward and Jasper were fighting each other for the controllers.

"What do you think our surprise is?" I asked, plopping down on the couch that Jasper and Edward were leaning against.

"I hope it involves shopping." Alice said as she sat down on Jaspers lap.

"Sweetheart, I can't see the TV." Jasper pouted. Alice simply rearranged herself in his lap. Rose curled up under Emmett's giant arm, making her look even thinner. I silently wished I had someone I could curl up with.

"I hope it's gotta do with a beach." Rose said, closing her eyes.

"God a beach sounds so good right now." I sighed, spreading out on the couch. My head was right next to Edward's. I took a deep breath of his scent, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"It's probably something lame if Dad had any help with the planning. I mean I love Dad and all, but I mean c'mon Squirt you know how boring Dad can be." Emmett said. We all laughed. This was very true.

After a solid half hour of Emmett hollering at the TV and Jasper laughing in his face I found myself utterly bored. Absent-mindedly I let my hand wander to Edward's hair and began running my fingers through it. He seemed to lean into my touch and stopped focusing on the game as much as he had been.

"Kids! Come up here please!" We all jumped up as Carlisle called us all up. This was it. We were gonna know what our surprise was. "Sit."

"We're not in trouble are we? That's not the surprise right? Cause Dad I'm really sorry Puck ate your favorite shoes. He totally thought they were a bone." Emmett suddenly blurted out.

"No, that's not the surprise Emmett. But we will talk about that later." Charlie said, glaring at Emmett. We all erupted with laughter.

"Alright, so you want to know what your surprise is?" Mr. Hale asked. We all nodded in anticipation.

"We thought since you guys are all officially upperclassmen, some getting ready to graduate in the spring…" Mrs. Hale looked adoringly at Emmett, Rose and Jasper.

"What would you guys say to spending those first two weeks of Christmas break…" Esme said. They could not be dragging this out anymore.

"In Cancun?" Carlisle finally said. Our mouths all hit the table at the same time. "And seeing as it's not a good time for John, Charlie or myself to take off of work, we would be leaving Emmett, Edward and Jasper in charge of being the protectors down there. Of course Esme and Lily would be going though."

Two weeks. In Mexico. Without our fathers. This could not be any better. I jumped up and hugged Charlie as Alice and Rose did the same to their fathers.

Jasper then moved to grab Alice in a loving embraced. Rose was suddenly being spun in the air. Again I couldn't stop myself from wishing that I had what my two best friends had. Edward came over and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"Think of all the havoc we can reek in Mexico, Bells." Edward said softly, ultimately causing me to shiver. I looked up at him and he had a new emotion dancing across his eyes, one I hadn't seen before.

"Here we come, Mexico." I said. Edward wrapped both his arms around me and I buried my face happily in his shoulder.

The rest of the week seemed to drag on. I started practicing again in the morning with the boys. It took some getting used to but by Friday I was well adjusted. Just in time to leave. Our flight left tonight at 6.

Alice had dragged me shopping and helped me pack all my stuff. She had chosen a few more revealing outfits then I would have liked, but promised me that they would come in handy.

"Bella, you're staring again." Alice said, taking me out of my trance. For gym today we had the option of sitting out since it was the last period before break.

"Huh?" I said, trying to play it off like I wasn't staring at her brother, who happened to be on the skins team. (AN- shirts v skins = shirts vs. people without shirts)

"I see you staring at my brother. Don't lie to me." Alice giggled as she moved closer, so Lauren couldn't hear what we were talking about.

"Uhm- uh." I was at an utter lost of words. There was no lying to Alice one she caught you.

"You totally like my brother don't you?" Alice said, I saw the evil glint flash across her eyes. Oh no. I did not like where this was going.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, turning all sorts of shades of red.

"You are totally in love with Edward. OH MY GOD! Can I set you guys up? Please let me do it while we're in Mexico!" Alice started to squeal and Edward and Emmett looked over at us with confused looks on their faces.

"Alice! We're friends." I leaned back, looking at anything but Edward. That was when I heard Lauren snickering to her friends.

"God Edward's looking hot out there. I can't wait till I fool him into loving me. I'll just have to be more careful who I sleep with on the side." Lauren's nasally voice filled my head. I let out a growl.

"Ha. Feeling protective, Bells?" Alice asked, smirking silently to herself. Thankfully the bell rang and we were heading to Mexico in less than 4 hours. However I felt like Alice wasn't going to be dropping the subject anytime soon.

Later that evening I found myself sandwiched between Jasper and Edward waiting as our 6 pm flight, as bumped back to a 9 pm flight. We had been stuck in the airport since 4. Esme and Lily, Rose and Jasper's mom, were off eating dinner somewhere, while we kids sat at the gate with all the stuff.

"Eddie, will you wake me up when the flight gets here?" I asked, practically begging as I felt my eyelids start to droop.

"Of course. I'll wake you as soon as they start boarding. Sleep my Bella." He said softly. I felt my heart flutter as he said 'my Bella'. I didn't let myself think to deeply into it. I dropped my head to his shoulder when I couldn't find another way to get comfortable. Rose and Alice were in similar positions with their boyfriends.

"Bells." I heard being whispered, pulling me out of my dream world. "Bellllaaa." Was now being sung into my ear. I opened my eyes to see Edward grinning at me. "They're going to start boarding soon."

I willed myself to get up and stretch. I shivered. I shouldn't had let Alice dress me in a tank top and shorts, even if it would be warm when we got off the plane.

"Remind me to kill your sister for choosing such cold clothing." I hissed as I picked myself up and started to stretch. Edward removed his hoodie and tossed it at me.

"It's pretty warm." Edward said, running a hand through his hair. You could see his muscles flex under his tight sweater.

"Thanks." I mumbled as I pulled the sweatshirt over my head. Edward's smell filled my every being. "Are you sure you won't be cold?"

"I'll be fine. Anyways I like seeing my name on you." He said in my ear, his lips grazing across them before he got up and moved onto line with everyone else to board the plane.

Oh help me God. It was going to be a long vacation. Especially once Alice finds out that I have feelings for Edward. Feelings seemed to not be a strong enough word for me though. I think I was falling in love with my best friend.

AN- Sooo i bet some of you are bursting with glee right now. Bella's finally admit that she's in love with Eddie. Anyways a lot of you asked what the song was from last chapter that Edward sung at the talent show. Its called You by Vega4. It's very good. And Lochie will be back, as a much more minor character, but as Bella is joining the hockey team, things are about to get very uncomfortable. And what would this story be without Danny butting his head into things. Review away my lovely readers. Loveeeeeee


	11. The One Where Things Get Steamy

Bellas POV

The flight to Mexico seemed to last longer than any flight I had ever taken. It wouldn't have felt like forever had I not been sitting next to the guy I just internally confessed my love for. I kept looking at him and blushing. Eventually I just let myself fall asleep, but even then I could see his perfect crooked grin in my sleep.

"So the way the rooms are set up children is as following." Esme read off the sheet of paper now in front of her. "We have two villas. There should be a villa for you guys and then a villa for Lily and myself. You kids will follow this path down to yours. We're going to be right down this one."

"Cool thanks!" Everyone all shouted as they took off running down the path. I however walked, knowing that with my luggage, my clumsiness would only be enhanced.

"It's so beautiful here." I whispered, to no one in particular.

"I could think of something more beautiful." Edward said from behind me. I jumped, not realizing he was there. He let out a hearty laugh before wrapping a shoulder around me. "You can go ahead and have the bed."

I looked around the room we had just walked into. He was right, there was only one bed left. There was a big room with three king sized beds. Alice and Jasper were on the bed closest to the bathroom, Emmett and Rose were laying on the bed closest to the kitchen and that left the bed closest to the patio and TV.

"Where do you plan on sleeping?" I asked looking around the room. I noticed a small couch in the corner by the TV and remaining bed. "Oh no. You are so too tall for that couch. I'll sleep on the couch, you take the bed."

"Not happening." Edward said as he plopped down on the couch. His feet hung over the edge, he looked absolutely ridiculous. I opened my mouth to argue but he stopped me, "Don't even try to stop me, Bells."

"I hate you, Edward Anthony Cullen." I sighed, putting my suitcase on the bed.

"I love you, Isabella Marie Swan." He teased. I wished he really meant those words.

"Guys check out the pool!" Emmett shouted, looking out the window. We all rushed over to the window to see what he was so excited about. There was a pool bigger than any pool I've ever seen. It had a complete bar in the middle of it too.

Within 20 minutes we were all dressed and ready to go lay by the pool. I was forced into a bikini too small for my liking. It was a light blue bandeau top, with a seashell right between my boobs. Luckily there was a halter strap, so I wouldn't have to worry about it falling down. Alice was in a pink and white stripped bikini and Rose was in a white bikini with gold flowers.

The afternoon at the pool pasted quickly, especially since Emmett got us a few pina coladas from the pool bar. I mainly stayed by Edward, since there were a few creepers in the pool looking at me. He looked positively amazing. The bathing suit perfectly hung from his hips, showing off his amazing muscles.

"Catching flies, Squirt?" Emmett said, laughing to himself as he walked past me. I merely hit his back, instantly regretting it. He picked me up and flung me into the pool. The rest of the day was spent lounging around quietly.

We had a quiet dinner with Esme and Lily before calling it an early night. Alice had us pinned to a schedule so strict that tonight we needed all the sleep we could get. She had use planned to go zip lining tomorrow through the rainforest.

Edward and I stayed up laughing and watching movies, while everyone passed out early. I looked around and saw that Alice was snuggled into Jasper's chest and Emmett was clinging to Rose. I sighed.

"Looks like everyone crashed, huh?" Edward asked, laughing lightly.

"Wimps." I said looking back at him to find his crooked grin. I couldn't help but return his grin.

"We should go to bed too. Alice will probably have us up at the crack of dawn." Edward said, moving off the bed to the couch.

"But I'm not tired." I said, but suddenly a yawn escaped my lips and I turned bright red.

"Right, go to sleep Bells." Edward said, chuckling. I watched as he tried to get comfortable on the couch and had to laugh to myself. "You find this funny, Bells?"

"Yup." I said, giggling.

"Lets see how funny you find this." And with that Edward Cullen was on top of me tickling me. Had I not been squirming from his hands roaming my body, I would have been frozen in shock.

"Uncle!" I called, softly enough not to wake everyone though. Edward collapsed next to me laughed heavily. "Not funny, Edward." I said, rolling over so I was facing away from him.

"Very funny, Bells." Edward said, wrapping his arms around him. He pulled my back into his chest and I stopped breathing. "Goodnight Isabella." He whispered in my ear. I took a much needed breath as soon as he let go of me.

"Edward wait!" I couldn't believe I was about to do this. "We can just share the bed. We used to do it all the time." I could feel myself turn bright red as he thought about it.

"You sure?" He asked, a wide smile spread across his face. I simply slid over to the far side of the bed and patted the spot next to me. "Trying to get me in bed, Miss Swan?"

"Keep dreaming, Eddie Boy." I said, preying my voice was strong. I couldn't imagine the horror if he knew my feelings at this point. He laughed and jumped on the bed next to me.

"Do you mind?" Edward asked. I looked over at him and he was beginning to pull his shirt off. He looked back over to me.

"Uh- not at all?" I said, it came out more of a question though. He quickly discarded his shirt and snuggled under the covers.

"Night, Bells." He mumbled before shutting his eyes.

"Night, Eddie." I said before joining him under the covers and willing myself to not think about my half naked best friend. Finally sleep took me.

"Look at how cute they are!" Alice said in my dream. That was odd. I snuggled back into something warm. I must have been super tired because my pillows never felt this good.

I heard a few clicks and some more muttering. It was getting really strange seeing as how I was dreaming of dinosaurs. I really don't think they had anything that clicked back then. Suddenly there was a big boom of laughter and it shook me awake.

There I was snuggled under Edward's arms, curled into his very bare chest. He had both arms wrapped around me, rather tightly I may add. He was still peacefully asleep, his chest rising and falling with each breath. I looked up to see our friends hovering around the bed, with cameras. The clicking. I hate my friends.

"Guys!" I hissed, trying not to wake Edward. When I tried to detangle myself from his arms, his grip on me only got tighter.

"Five more minutes, Bells." Edward mumbled into my hair and then let out a content sigh when he got comfortable against me again. I was bright red the whole time. Everyone erupted with laughter at this.

"We'll leave you two alone. Come meet us at breakfast in like 10 minutes though." Alice said, before ushering out of the room, into our living room.

"Edward, come on, everyone's waiting for us." I said, wishing my face would turn back to a normal color. That was a lost cause.

"Mmm." Edward hummed against me again. This time he kissed my forehead before returning to his slumber. _Alright Bella, stay cool, it's your best friend. He's sleeping, its not like it means anything. _I forced myself to think.

"Edward, there's hot breakfast waiting for you." I said, close to his ear. With that he shot up, still holding on to me, forcefully taking me with him.

"Breakfast?" He said, looking around. He suddenly realized that he was holding on to me and turned red. "Uh, sorry about that Bells."

"It's uh, it's fine." I said as I awkwardly got up and grabbed my bathing suit that was hanging on the door. I quickly went to the bathroom and changed, throwing on a pair of shorts and a tank top over my bikini.

"Ready to go?" Edward said, who was now sitting on the bed in a pair of shorts and a hockey team shirt. We both grabbed our flip flops and headed out to breakfast. Edward chuckled silently to himself as we walked.

"What?" I asked, looking at him oddly.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about this morning." He said, laughing again, only this time harder.

"What's so funny about you taking over my bed?" I asked, stopping to place my hands on my hips.

"You didn't try very hard to get away from me last night." Edward mentioned.

"You did happen to have me in a death grip." I countered.

"You loved it."

"I hate you." I laughed. Edward wrapped an arm around my shoulder as we strolled to breakfast.

"It's about time you two showed up. Grab food and hurry up we have to be in the car in 10 minutes." Alice said as we were pushed into the buffet line. "You two will just have to eat in the car."

"Alice, calm down, dear. The rainforest will be there all day." Esme said, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Alice pouted and walked over to Jasper. He lovingly wrapped his arms around her small frame and kissed her head.

"Did you two sleep well last night?" Lily asked as we made our way back to the table.

"Yes." We both replied, looking down at the floor. Everyone else laughed as both Edward and I blushed.

Soon enough we were all piled into a van, taking us about 2 hours from the resort. Alice was almost exploding with glee as we drove deeper into the jungle. I however was brewing with fear. We had to climb up the start of the zip line before they launched us off into the jungle. Once we got there I was nearly shaking with fear.

"Squirt, what's wrong?" Emmett said, noticing that I was freaking out.

"Are we going all the way up there?" I said, looking up to the top of the trees.

"Yeah, Bella, it's a canopy tour." Jasper said, "That means like the tops of the trees. Why do you think Mom and Esme didn't want to go? You'll be fine though, only like three people ever die on these things."

"Die?" I crocked out. Everyone started to laugh and Jasper put an arm around my shoulder.

"I'm only teasing you, Bella. You'll be fine I promise." Jasper said, nudging me. I gulped as we walked towards our guide. He started to explain the different tours we can go on.

"Lets go on the one that goes over the water!" Emmett called out. I groaned and put my head in my hands. I looked up and the guide, Carl, was looking at me like I was crazy.

"What's wrong?" Carl asked me.

"Bella is a little afraid of heights." Rose answered for me. _Gee thanks, pal._

"If you feel better, we can set you and a friend or a guide up on double. That way you won't have to be alone up there. It's really not that scary." Carl said with a reassuring smile.

"Thanks." I mumbled, rather embarrassed. Suddenly I felt two arms wrap around me.

"I'll go with you, if you want." Edward whispered close to my ear. He gave me a quick squeeze before letting go.

"Really?" I turned around. Somehow the whole idea of flying across the jungle seemed a little less frightening, knowing that I would be tied against Edward.

"Of course. It'll be fun." Edward said, taking my hand as we hiked up to our launching pad. "How you doing?"

"Freaking out! Look at how high up we are!" I said, clutching onto Edward's whole arm. He chuckled.

"Here, hop on." Edward said, crouching down. I got onto his back without hesitation this time. "You better hold on tight, spider monkey."

"You're so lame." I said, slapping his chest. We eventually made it to the platform. Carl started to lecture us on how the harness works and how our helmets had microphones in them so we could all communicate on our journey.

Emmett jumped off the platform first. Rosalie followed shortly behind him. Then Alice nearly danced right off, followed by an excited looking Jasper.

"You two ready for this?" Carl asked Edward and me. Edward looked at me and we turned back to Carl. "Alright, the heavier person has to go in the back, so Edward here, slid into the back." Edward did as he was told. "And Bella nestle yourself in between Edward's legs and attach the harness from there." I did as I was told. "Now Bella, grab on to the rope there if you need to hold on to something. Have fun guys!"

And with that we were pushed off the platform before I could chicken out. Edward wrapped his arms around me tightly, as I held onto the rope. We weren't moving very fast, actually we were moving rather slowly.

"Don't let me fall, okay Eddie?" I asked, looking at the upcoming drop.

"Never." Edward whispered close to my ear. I felt his chin on my shoulder as we went into the first drop, bringing up closer to the canopy. I let out a small scream we picked up speed. "It's okay, Bells. I've got you." Edward cooed in my ear, wrapping his arms tighter.

"Is it over?" I asked, opening my eyes again once it slowed back down.

"Smooth sailing from here. Try letting go of the rope, it feels really cool." Edward said, moving his hands up to mine, which were still securely around the rope.

"I'm scared." I said, looking down to the ground, BIG MISTAKE.

"It'll be fine, here take my hands." Edward said, entwining our hands together. As soon as I let go of the rope, I felt like I was floating.

"This is so cool!" I said, laughing. We laughed the whole way, I occasionally screamed when we would swoop in by the trees. Edward just held me tighter to his body. I felt secure when he held on to me, like I would never fall. Near the end of one particularly large drop, I felt Edward press his lips to my neck, send a shiver down my entire spine.

"Dude where are you two?" A voice suddenly filled my helmet.

"Em?" I said back. I turned my head to look at Edward who had the biggest grin on his face.

"We're all waiting at the bottom, where the hell are you?" Emmett said back.

"We're almost there, we had to wait to get our harness on together." Edward said.

"You better be keeping your hands to yourself, Cullen." Emmett said, we could hear a loud slap. "Oww, Rosie."

"We'll see you guys in a little bit, I think we're almost done." I said, as I tangled my hands in Edward's. I should tell him how I felt, right then and there, floating above the rainforest.

"Are you having a good time, Bells?" Edward asked, moving his head close to my ear again. I nodded.

"I have something I need to tell you something, Edward." I began, letting out a shaky breath.

"Mmm." He hummed against my neck.

"I think I l-…" I started but was rudely interrupted by our soaring ride float down onto a platform.

"Hey guys!" Jasper called, seeing us before everyone else. "Well, that looks comfortable."

"Hey guys." I said, cursing the fact that I had almost told Edward that I love him. Wait till Alice hears about this one.

"Well Bella, it's about time. Now we only have a few hours to get ready for tonight." Alice said, as the new guide started to detach Edward and me. I missed the connection our bodies had.

"What's tonight?" I said, looking at Rose.

"We're going to the club! Apparently the resort has a fantastic nightclub. We need to get ready!" Rose said, just as excited as Alice was.

I got dragged off away from the boys, who were going exploring. Alice and Rose ordered room service while I was showering. I got out to find a buffet of treats strewn across our living room.

"Hey Bells! How was your canopy ride? How was being pressed up against my brother?" Alice asked, as I came out wrapped in a towel. I stuck a strawberry in my mouth hoping to avoid it.

"Someone's avoiding the question?" Rose teased, throwing a grape in my direction. I dodged it, then grabbed a piece of pineapple and chucked it back.

"It was lovely, thank you very much." I said, hoping my blush wouldn't give me away.

"You're blushing!" Alice caught on.

"Spill, now." Rose commanded.

"I almost told Edward I loved him." I whispered out, putting my head down on the table.

"What was that?" Alice prodded.

"I almost told Edward I loved him." I said, a little louder this time.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch that." Rose said, moving closer.

"I ALMOST TOLD EDWARD I LOVED HIM!" I was shouting at this point. Both of their jaws hit the counter.

"I knew it!" Alice cheered, dancing around the couches.

"He'll be eating out of the palm of your hand by the end of the night." Rose said, running to the closet and grabbing a few outfits. "Go grab an old button down shirt while I get ready to do your makeup."

I did as was told and soon enough I was being attacked. Rose gave me a really smoky eye, but didn't make me look like a clown. I was thankful for this. Alice spent at least two hours on my hair alone, trying to get it to the perfect 'natural' looking curl she could. I had to admit by the end of Bella Barbie, my hair and make up looked fantastic.

"You guys need a new hobby. How much time do you guys put in to practicing this?" I asked, running a hand through my soft curls.

"Years of practice. Now go sit and watch TV on the bed while we get ready, then we'll give you your outfit." Alice said as she and Rose went into separate bathrooms to get ready. No more than an hour later they came out dressed only in their underwear.

"Have you guys no shame?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Nope. Now here, put this on." Rose said, handing me my dress. It couldn't have been shorter. It was black with rhinestones in the corners where the straps met my collarbone. It was low cut, really low cut.

"Guys are you kidding?" I asked, pulling the dress on over my head.

"You have stellar legs, Bells. Edward will be drooling all over himself when he sees you." Alice said, as Rose pushed me in front of a mirror. I had to admit I looked really good. Alice handed me a pair of purple heels to top of the whole outfit.

Alice pulled on her dress next. It was pink with lots of retro dots all over it. It was super short but fit her small frame. Her shoes were jet black and gave her at least 5 inches of height. Rose looked like a total knock out too. She was wearing an orange dress that fell perfectly around her body. (Outfits on profile)

"Lets go meet our men." Alice said, as we all linked arms and moved towards the club. We found ourselves sitting at a table, waiting for the boys to bring us drinks. Edward came back first with my drink.

"Here you go, Bells." He whispered laying the pina colada next to me. I took a big sip of it and let the cool alcohol slide down my throat. We all sat and talked for a while until Alice and Rose had enough to drink that they were ready to dance.

"Lets dance, Bells." Rose said, trying to grab at my arm. I however was not nearly as drunk as they were and wasn't ready to make a fool of myself.

"Oh no. I'm staying here." I said, as I pushed Rose onto Emmett. "Drag Em out there." And so she did. And Alice dragged Jasper out following Rose and Emmett to the center of the dance floor.

"They're crazy." I said, slipping on my third drink.

"Yeah." Edward said, watching me intently. "So you were trying to tell me something on the zip line, I don't think you ever got to finish."

"Oh- uh- want to dance? Let's go dance, Eddie." I said, not having nearly the same amount of courage anymore.

So I grabbed his hand and led him to the dance floor. He wrapped his arms around my waist and we started dancing to the music. The drink I had were making me a little more free than I usually was when I danced. I felt Edward's body flush against mine and never wanted the feeling to go away.

I turned so I was facing Edward now. His body still molded against me. We moved silently to the music, never missing the beat.

"Bella." Edward groaned into my hair as I rested my head against his neck, kissing it lightly.

"Mmm." I looked up into his big green eyes. He looked down at my lips, looking for approval and I nodded. Just as his hand moved to under my chin I noticed someone watching us. I looked closer and nearly threw up.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Edward asked, seeing the horror flash across my face. "Bells?"

"Edward we need to get out of here right now." I said, trying to pull on his arm.

"Bella, what's going on?" Edward asked, grabbing my arm and pulling me into him.

"He's here. Danny's here. He's sitting over at the bar. I need to get out of here." I said, my tears now sliding down my face. "Please."

"It's going to be okay. I'm gonna make you safe." Edward said, pulling me out of the room, quickly. He picked me up and pulled off my shoes. He threw them and we started to run.

We ran until we hit our hotel room. As soon as we got inside, Edward pulled me close into his side. We walked through every room and check everything to make sure there was no way Danny could get in. Edward sat on the bed and pulled me into his chest.

"Shh, you're safe now. I've got you. I won't let anyone near you." Edward cooed in my ear, as he wiped away my tears. "I'm going to call Emmett and Jasper okay?"

"O-okay." I mumbled out against his chest. He pressed a quick kiss to my head and pulled out his phone. I heard him explain to Emmett that we were back in the room, safely and to call when they got back.

"Emmett said he's not in the club anymore. Don't worry though, love, no one can get in here." Edward said. I almost missed that he called me love. I was just too scared to care. "Lets just watch some TV. Do you want to get out of the dress?"

"Yes, please." I said, softly. "Can you help me?"

"Uh- sure. Here you can wear this." Edward said, pulling out his hockey sweatshirt. He slid it over my head and it fell to my knees. I wiggled out of the dress curled back into his lap.

I must have fallen asleep because next thing I knew Edward was trying to wiggle out from under me.

"No, don't go. Please, he'll get me." I cried, holding Edward tighter.

"Bells, I just need to go let Emmett and Jasper in." Edward said, placing me lightly on the bed. "Stay on the bed, okay?" I nodded and watched as he grabbed an umbrella.

He opened the door and there I saw Emmett and Jasper with very drunk Rose and Alice. Jasper led the two girls to their beds and rushed over to my bed with Emmett.

"You're safe now, Squirt." Emmett said, running a hand through my hair as he hugged me. "No one's getting in here tonight."

"We'll take shifts, staying up, alright guys?" Jasper said, making sure that everything was locked and sealed. "We'll go to the front desk in the morning and tell them what's going on. But for now this is the smartest thing we can do."

"Bells, how bout you just go back to sleep?" Emmett suggested laying me back on my bed. I looked up and saw Edward standing by the door. I needed him to come back.

"Can Edward stay with me?" I asked, softly. Emmett looked over to Edward and nodded. Edward dropped the umbrella and came back into bed. Emmett and Jasper got up, muttering something about who stayed up when.

"I'm scared." I whispered against Edward as I snuggled back into his chest.

"Nothing's going to happen to you. I'll protect you, I promise." Edward said placing the covers tightly around us. Right as sleep was about to take me again I heard it, faintly, but I definitely heard it.

"I love you, Isabella. You are my life now."

(A/N – I almost stopped here so you guys should give me a ton of reviews because I didn't)

I opened my eyes praying that it was only a dream. That everything was only a dream. I needed him gone. And even if I had to trade Edward telling me he loves me, I would to make it so that Danny wasn't actually here.

"Hey, Squirt." Emmett said, sitting up with his laptop on his bed. "I wouldn't move very fast. Edward just fell asleep, you'll probably wake him."

"What time is it?" I muttered, not trying to detangle myself from Edward's arms.

"A little past 11 in the morning." Emmett said. I felt my eyes bug out of my head. I looked around the room; no one else was in sight.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Alice and Rose went to breakfast with Esme and Lily. Jasper is meeting up with them after he goes to report this to the front desk." Emmett said, shutting his laptop and coming to sit on the edge of my bed. "We had to tell Esme and Lily, Squirt. I know you didn't want them to find out this way, but it was necessary to keep you safe."

"They're going to hate me and think that I'm dirty." I whined, snuggling into Edward's side.

"No one thinks you're horrible or dirty, Squirt. It's Danny who is the total douche bag. All they care about is making sure that you're okay." Emmett said, rubbing my back.

"How late where you guys up?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know what hell they went through last night.

"Edward was up the entire night, until about 9 he finally fell asleep this morning. Jasper and I took 2 hour shifts." Emmett said. "But with Edward around, someone was always up. The dummy's crazy for you, Squirt." Emmett said, leaning back against his headboard.

I laughed. It was a weird thought, Edward Cullen being crazy about me, Bella Swan. It was obvious I was crazy about him, I have been since we were young, I just never realized it. The thought of him being crazy about me too, well it nearly drove me insane. I wiped the tears off my face and turned to look at Edward's sleeping body.

"Hey, you." Edward suddenly said, his eyes not even opened yet. He gripped me tighter to his side. "How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm pretty shaken up. I thought it was done." I said, leaning my head on his chest.

"I meant it when I said no one is going to get you while I'm here, Bells. I promise you that. So we're going to enjoy the rest of our vacation doing things together. I'll protect you." He mumbled against my head.

"Now that Eddie boy is up I'm going to go meet them at breakfast. Make sure you two lock up when you come down. I'll lock the door when I leave." Emmett said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Crazy, Squirt." Emmett said, and I knew he was talking about Edward.

"Bye Em." I said as I went to move from Edward's arms. I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable even though I could stay there forever.

"Not so fast." Edward chuckled. He began tickling me and I fought my way off the bed.

"You're crazy." I said as I moved towards the shower.

"You love me." Edward countered.

"If only you knew." I said under my breath.

"What was that?"

"Shit, nothing!" I called as I entered the bathroom. Shut he almost heard me admit my love for him. Great. That would so add to how fabulous this is going. I showered quickly, thinking about how I didn't want to leave the room today. I jumped out of the shower and threw my hair up on my head in a messy bun.

"It's raining, Bells. So you may want to dress accordingly." Edward said from the other side of the door.

"Thanks!" I shouted back. So not only was my creepy ex boyfriend here on the resort, but now its raining to top everything off. Great.

I came out of the bathroom to find Edward already dressed and sitting on the bed. He was wearing a pair of gym shorts, a beat up tee shirt and sneakers. I had on a pair of shorts and a hoodie. We walked quietly to breakfast, not mentioning any part of last night.

"Hello, dear." Esme greeted me with a hug as she say us walk in. "I am so sorry." She whispered into my ear. I nodded and took my seat at the end of the table. Alice gave me a small squeeze on my shoulder.

"Bella dear, we had to call and tell Charlie about this. He's drafting a restraining order that will be all set for when we enter the US." Lily said, not picking her head up from the table.

"You told my dad?" I asked, my jaw hanging open.

"Dear, it's for your own safety." Esme said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.

"NO! YOU TOLD MY DAD THAT I'M DAMAGED! YOU TOLD HIM THAT I WAS VIOLATED IN NO WAY THAT A DAD WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT!" I shouted, rage and disappointment filling my body.

I got up and ran. I ran straight out of the dining hall and straight down a path. I wasn't sure where I was running to but I needed to get away from everyone that knew my secret. I wanted to run until it wasn't true anymore. The rain was starting to come down heavier and you could almost not see in front of yourself.

"Bella!" I heard a voice call to me. Edward had followed me. "Bella, stop!" But I didn't. I kept on running. Unfortunately he was a better runner than me and grabbed my arm. "Bella, stop!"

"Why, Edward. Everyone knows. I came here so that no one would know, so that I could live a normal life." I hissed, trying to break free of his grasp. "Let go of me!"

"No." He said, calmly. "I'm not letting your run away anymore."

"Why the hell not, Edward. Why do you even care this much?" I shouted, I knew that I didn't mean what I was saying but I was so disappointed in myself that I was finally letting myself feel.

"Do you want to truly know why I care so much about you running right now?" Edward asked, getting pissed off.

"Yes, please enlighten me." I snarled back at him. There was a clap of thunder that felt like it shook me down to my core.

"Because I love you. Okay Bella are you happy now? Ever since you came back here, I've not known what to do because I finally realized what was missing in my life. I loved you so much when we were younger, I just never realized. But now guess what. I know that I love you. And all you do is beat yourself up and blame yourself for everything. You're hurting those around you by doing this. I'm not letting you go, because I fucking love you, Bella." He said, starting out shouting then slowly got a whisper.

I gasped, and stopped thrashing against his arm that braced me. I was crying at this point. The rain was covering my tears to anyone who didn't know me. But Edward saw them. He put his rough hockey hand up to my cheek and wiped away my tears with his thumb.

"I didn't mean to yell at you, Bells." He whispered. "I'm just frustrated. I need you in my life. If anything happened to you, I don't know what I would do. Bella, I think you're my soul mate." He pressed his forehead against mine. I took in a shaky breath.

"I think I love you too. But I'm scared. It hurts so bad to let people in." I whispered, looking straight into his green eyes.

"I won't hurt you. I'll never hurt you." He mumbled, closing his eyes. "We'll take it slow, see where this goes. But Bella, when I'm with you, it feels like everything falls into place. Everything stops but us. I never want to let you go."

I nodded and with that Edward's lips captured mine. It didn't feel forced, or rushed like it used to when Danny would kiss me. Then I suddenly remembered that he was here somewhere. Edward wrapped his arms tightly around me, pulling me close to his body.

"Lets get back inside. It's getting bad out here." Edward suggested. He grabbed my hand as we went back to our hotel room. Once we got back Edward called to tell everyone that we were fine and back in the room. They had gone out to some tour and so that left Edward and me alone.

"Want to just watch a movie?" I asked, leaning into his arms as we checked the hotel for any unwanted visitors.

"Sounds great." Edward said, leading me over to the couch. We laid on the couch, my back pressed up against his chest for nearly 4 hours before there was a knock at the door. I was half awake and nudged a sleeping Edward.

"Someone's at the door." I said to him as I turned in his arms. I kissed his chest softly.

"They'll go away." He said, snuggling back into me. The knocking grew louder and more impatient. Suddenly it became thrusts as if someone was trying to break in.

"Edward." I hissed. This time he shot up at the sound and protectively moved in front of me.

"Love, listen to me, I need you to be really brave right now. I need you to go into the bathroom, and lock the door. Call Emmett." Edward whispered pushing me towards the bathroom. I clung to his shirt.

"No! You are not staying out here with that monster. He'll kill you, Edward." I sobbed into his shirt.

"No he won't. I won't let him hurt me. Please, just do this for me." Edward begged. I slowly nodded and Edward kissed my lips.

"I'm going to make you safe." Edward mumbled against my lips as he pulled the bathroom door shut and I turned the lock.

I could hear shouting going on outside the door and knew on instant it was Danny's voice. I was shaking as I called Emmett. He didn't pick up. I tried the next person I could think of.

"Hello?" Jasper said after the third ring.

"He's here." I whispered into the phone, my voice breaking with a sob. I heard another collision outside the door and flinched away. "He's hurting Edward."

"Bella, where are you?" Jasper asked sternly.

"The room." I sobbed out.

"Are you somewhere he can't get you?" Jasper asked, I could hear his footsteps as he ran. I heard Emmett shout after him and then there were more footsteps.

"I'm locked in the bathroom; but Edwards out there. There's a lot of banging going on." I said, continuing to cry.

"Bella, we'll be there in about two minutes. Just stay in the bathroom and try not to make a whole lot of noises. Stay on the phone with me, okay?" Jasper said, he was panting a little from running. "Girls, to Esme's room." I heard him say.

"Jasper, I'm scared." I whispered.

"It's going to be okay, Bella." Jasper said. He was soothing, but not soothing enough for this. I needed Edward right now. But he was outside where all the commotion was. I could hear screaming, just not what the words were. I think I was lucky for that.

"Alright, Bells, we're here. Stay put, no matter what you hear." Jasper said. Suddenly the line went dead and I heard Emmett's booming voice. I flinched further into the corner and suddenly everything got quiet.

"Bella?" I heard Emmett calling through the door. He began to knock. I crawled up off the floor and unlocked the door, throwing myself into Emmett's arms. "Are you okay, are you hurt?"

"No Edward made me come into the bathroom." I said, realization suddenly hitting me. "Where is he? Emmett, where's Edward?" I asked frantically.

"Bella, don't freak out. Just take a few deep breaths okay?" Emmett said, I suddenly found a burst of energy and pushed passed him. I was suddenly stopped dead in my tracks by the scene in front of me.

"Edward." I whispered. I looked at the beautiful man in front of me who was now covered in bruises and cuts. I ran over to him and crouch down to eye level with him.

"You're safe." He mumbled. He reached forward and put his arms around me. I could tell he was wincing in pain. "Please." I nodded and just crawled into his lap, the smell of blood making me dizzy.

"I'm so sorry." I cried into his chest. Jasper was buying band-aids at the front desk while I snuggled into Edward. "This is all my fault."

"Do not blame yourself for this, Isabella. Do you hear me? I promised to keep you safe, and I did." He said, pressing a kiss to my temple.

"Did I miss something? Should I be getting all overprotective brother right now?" Emmett asked, looking awkwardly at me nestled into Edward's neck. When no one answered him, he just left awkwardly mumbling about going to see Rose.

"I'm sorry." I cried, pulling back to see his face. He had a cut above his eyebrow that was bleeding badly. I instantly jumped off his lap and ran to get washcloth from the bathroom. I ran warm water over it and walked back to Edward.

"Thanks." He mumbled, moving to grab it from my hands. I pulled back.

"Can I?" I asked, Edward nodded and moved so that he was lying down on the couch.

I sat on the coffee table and began to wipe the blood away from his face. His one hand kept grazing patterns on my legs and thighs as I continued to clean him cuts. Jasper brought over some band-aids before leaving to go find everyone else. He promised they would be back soon.

Edward was cleaned up in about two hours, although he was covered in band-aids. I got him some advil and water and helped him sit up to take it.

"I have such a headache. Kid can throw a punch." Edward winced, putting his head in his hands.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you out there with him." I said, silently cursing myself for leaving Edward alone with Danny.

"It would have been worse if you had been there. He would have hurt you, worse he could have taken you away." Edward said, "Away from me."

We sat in silence on the couch, his head in my lap for some time. We watched Room Raiders and just enjoyed each other's company. After about an hour I broke the silence.

"Thank you." I said.

"For what?" Edward mumbled as I started to run my fingers through his hair.

"For saving me."

"You're welcome." He sighed. Edward fell asleep shortly after, and thankfully right before Jasper and everyone else came back in. Emmett and Jasper helped move Edward back into the bed while Rose and Alice found me pajamas to wear. I was so drained from the day that I couldn't think straight anymore.

"Here Bells, you can wear this." Alice said, throwing Edward's sweatshirt at me. I graciously pulled it over my head and snuggled into the warmth.

"Emmett and Jasper were able to get Edward down to his boxers. If you aren't comfortable with that they said they would try to get some pants on him." Rose said, moving to where Alice and I were on the couch.

"No, it's fine." I said, getting up and moving towards the bedroom. "Thanks guys."

"No problem!" Alice said, following me to her bed. "Oh, and we have a security guard watching the room now, so you're safe." I let out a sigh.

"And we're going to the spa tomorrow, with one of the guards while the other one stays by the boys." Rose said, crawling under her covers.

"That sounds fine." I said, kissing Edward's chest before wrapping his arms around me.

"Bell did you just kiss my brother?" Alice asked.

"Uh…" I stammered.

"You have some serious explaining to do tomorrow." Rose laughed.

The next morning, as promised, I had some serious explaining to do. Rose and Alice and our new security friend, Jordan all went to the spa. The three of us laid on the tables that looked out to the ocean.

"So about that kiss, little miss best friend, over there." Alice began. We all laughed. I could have sworn Jordan even chuckled from his corner.

"What about it?" I asked, feigning innocents.

"Don't even go there. We saw you kiss Edward's chest last night as you crawled into bed with him." Rose said.

"Alright, so I kissed your brother!" I said, it didn't take long before both Rose and Alice were squealing. I told them the whole story about the rain and the kisses and the movies, right up through when Danny got there.

"So are you guys dating?" Alice asked.

"I don't really know. We never talked about it." I said. That was a good question, what were Edward and I.

"Well do you want to be his girlfriend?" Rose asked, turning her head to look at me. I thought about it for a minute.

"I think so, I just…it hurts to let someone back in. I thought I loved Danny too. I'm scared." I said, in almost a whisper.

"Edward would never hurt you the way that monster did." Alice said, touching my arm. I nodded. I knew that.

"I know."

The rest of the spa trip was full of giggles and squeals. Poor Jordan. I think he enjoyed it though, we would occasionally talk to him and ask him questions. Apparently Danny had moved too fast yesterday and got away before Emmett or Jasper could grab him. But I felt safe around Jordan. Especially since he was huge.

"So where are the boys?" I asked, anxious to see how Edward was doing today.

"Not so fast. Girl times not over yet." Rose said, linking arms with me. I saw her look over to Alice in a mysterious way.

"We're going out for a while." Alice said, winking at Jordan. He let out a deep chuckle before following us to a car.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Oh no where in particular. And then some shopping." Alice said laughing. We drove along in the car until we pulled up to probably the nicest looking place on the whole street. I got out of the car and read the sign that was flashing PIERCING.

"Oh no." I said, backing towards the car.

"Please, Bells. We've always wanted to get our belly buttons pierced." Rose said, looping her arm through mine.

"Pretty please, Bella." Alice sang, pouting her lip out in her classic puppy dog face.

"Fine, but I hate you guys." I said, getting dragged to the shop.

"Hey girls, what can I do for you today?" A man in his mid thirties said as we walked into the store.

"We want to get our belly buttons pierced." Alice said, nearly jumping up and down.

"Alright, I'm Marc. I'll be doing to the piercing. There are sample rings over there if you guys want to pick out your starters we can begin. Who wants to go first." Marc said, moving around the back room. No one said anything.

"I will." I said, standing up. Alice and Rose gave me shocked expressions. "No way am I watching a needle be stuck through your skin and then do it."

I picked a simple turquoise gem ring to start with. I was nearly shaking with fear at this point. I laid on the table and Alice and Rose came over near my head. I felt the cool cloth as Marc cleaned my bellybutton. He was telling me about his daughter and asked us about our lives.

Suddenly there was a clamp around my belly button that was icy cold. I winced. It didn't hurt though; I was just startled. He hadn't even put the needle in yet.

"Alright, Bella. Take a deep breath for me, you're going to feel a pinch okay. One, two, three." And with that I felt the pinch. I groaned at first, then shook my head, trying to shake the feeling out of him.

"Oh my god, Bell! It looks so pretty!" Alice said, "Me next!" I sat up slowly as Marc has instructed and moved to go look in the mirror. Alice was right; it was perfect.

We all finished and thanked Marc as we left the store. Alice and Rose got the same ring as I did, just in different colors. Alice's was purple and Rose's was red.

"We're meeting the boys for lunch in a few minutes, we're going to be late." Alice laughed.

"Where are Esme and Lily?" I asked, noticing they hadn't been around all day.

"They are off doing some bird watching thing on the resort." Rose said, as we climbed back into the car. Jordan sped off back to the resort.

I felt my pulse start to quicken as I saw Edward sitting us at the table with Emmett and Jasper. A large man sat at the table across from them, I could only imagine that was the security. Although I don't know who would be crazy enough to attack Emmett.

"Hey guys!" I said, reaching the table first. I sat in the chair next to Edward and he wrapped an arm around the back of it.

"I missed you." He whispered in my ear as Rose and Alice took their seats as well. I giggled in response.

"Oh! Look what we did today!" Alice said, standing back up and showing everyone her belly button. Rosalie did the same.

"Did you get one too, Squirt?" Emmett said, shaking with laughter. "I could only imagine what you did to the poor sucker that tried to stick you with a needle."

"Yeah, I did get one." I said, removing just enough of my shirt to show them. Edward nearly choked on his water.

"You okay there, Ed?" Jasper asked. Everyone laughed and Edward turned a deep shade of red. I loved it when Edward would blush.

Lunch continued normally. We were going back to our room to get ready and then were spending the entire day on the beach. Everyone went down while I was still changing and Edward waited for me. He grabbed my hand when I came out of the bathroom and pulled me into a hug.

"I really missed you today. I don't like not knowing that you're safe. I like having your in my arms." He whispered as we stood in each other's embrace.

"I missed you too." I said. I pulled out of his arm quickly and looked for my dress to wear to the beach. "Have you seen my white dress?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at him.

"Nope. Here you can wear this." Edward said, pulling his hockey shirt off. I recognized it as the same shirt he was wearing the day I first saw him. It said FORKS HIGH HOCKEY on the front and CULLEN in big letters across the back. The shirt easily went down by my thighs so I didn't have to wear anything under it.

"I love seeing my name on you." Edward said as we walked down to the beach with Ollie, our other security guard close behind.

I giggled and grabbed his hand as we reached the sand. I saw our friends over lying on a lot of sand that was nice and secluded. When we reached them Ollie went to stand with Jordan. I laid my towel down next to Rose and Alice while Edward went to go play football with Emmett and Jasper.

"Edward Cullen, you better not come near me right now." I said as Edward came out of the water soaked, moving closer to me.

"Bells want to go swimming?" Edward said, as if he were talking to a baby. I shook my head no furiously. I got up and started running around the beach. Unfortunately he caught me.

"AHH!" I screamed as he threw me over his shoulder and took off towards the ocean. Suddenly I felt the cool water rush around me. I hissed at the shock. I turned around and slapped Edward's chest.

"Jerk." I said, turning my back to him.

"I'm sorry, Bells." He whispered right next to my ear. Suddenly his arms were tight around my waist, pulling me to his chest and out into deeper water. He kissed the nape of my neck as he pulled us out to where I couldn't stand anymore.

"I can't touch the bottom." I so ingeniously pointed out.

"Don't worry, I can." Edward said, standing up on his tiptoes only to get beaten down by a wave. I laughed as I treaded the water around me.

I laid there for a while, thinking about how nice the water felt around me. Once I had gotten used to the coolness, I let the waves pull me back and forth. I could hear Alice and Rose shouting at Emmett and Jasper from shallower water.

"Bells?" Edward finally broke the silence.

"Mmm." I responded.

"Can I ask you something?" He said, sounding really unsure of himself.

"Yeah, go ahead." I said, sitting up in the water, treading it again.

"Would you, uh, be my girlfriend? I mean if it's too much that's understandable. I just don't like the feeling of being away from you. And I don't like the idea of other guys being around you and trying to get with you. I like the idea of you being mine and me being yours." Edward rambled on. I put a finger up to his lips to silence him.

"Yes, as long as you promise to take this slowly." I said, moving my finger from his lips.

"Promise." Edward said before kissing my lips. His arms wrapped around me and in return I wrapped my legs around him. All too soon a football hit the side of Edward's head, sending him into the on coming wave.

"What the hell, Em?" I shouted.

"That's my baby sister, Cullen!" Emmett shouted from the sand. Rosalie slapped his head and than smiled at us. I lead Edward back to the sand where Emmett was and grabbed him in a full fledge kiss. Jasper cheered and again I heard Rose hit Emmett.

Edward just smiled as I led him back to the hotel room. We laughed once we were out of ear shot of Emmett. Edward gently kissed my hand as we laid down, taking a nap before dinner with Esme and Lily.

The rest of vacation went smoothly; with the exception of having the security guards following us everywhere. Edward and I had announced to the group that we were officially dating at a got a lot of finally's as reactions. But now it was time to go home, which I was semi grateful for.

However that meant that I was now going to have to start hockey practice, which I was dreading. Somehow I don't think it would be that bad since I had Emmett and Edward there and of course Jasper.

"Ready to go, Love?" Edward asked, picking up the last of our things, moving them out to the rental car.

"Yup." I said, grabbing a small bag and holding his free hand. We walked peacefully back to the car before climbing in and driving to the airport. The drive was shorter than I remember and being snuggled up in Edward's sweatshirt and arms wasn't so bad either.

We got stopped at security in the airport so that Emmett could get patted down. I guess his size was intimidating and they felt threatened by him. We couldn't help but laugh. I tried to hide my yawn as we finally sat down at our gate and waited for our flight.

I waited nestled in Edward's arms for the flight to get here, which thankfully wasn't delayed this time. Finally I heard the announcement that it was time to board the plane and I let out a large yawn.

"Go to sleep, my Bella. I'll wake you up when we get there." Edward said, sliding his arms around me as we got back to our seats.

"I'm not tired." I tried to lie.

"Sleep, love." Edward said before he started humming. It was a familiar tune, however I couldn't put my finger on it. Then the words started.

"_Goodnight, my angel time to close your eyes/ and save these questions for another day. I think I know what you've been asking me/ I think you know what I've been trying to say. I promised I would never leave you/ and you should always know. Wherever you may go, no matter where you are I never will be far away…" _And with that I let the sleep finally take me.

AN-- Sorry for the long wait for an update!! I've officially been house shopping for the first time ever! Kyle and I went down to San Diego for our spring break (Bringing Ky's little bro Lochie didn't help out either, my two silly australian boys) and checked out houses in La Jolla. It's so bizar to think about buying my very first house with my soon to be husband!! We're young, but this is it for us, this is our forever. Anywaysssss i should have a new chapter up soon ish. If and only if you guys give me like a tonnnnnn of reviews because they make my life! loveeee


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